JPEPA Implementation, a Threat to the Automotive Industry
Posted on 10.10.07 1:51PM under Current Events
One of the controversial issues that the Philippine government faces is the passage of the proposed Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA). If this will be approved by the Philippine Senate, about 100,000 Filipino workers will likely lose their jobs. According to the Philippine Metal Workers Alliance (PMA), this agreement will allow the entry of cheaper but unsafe imported vehicles and will threaten the automotive, iron and steel workers in the country because it could set off the mass layoff of not only about 77,000 workers from the automotive industry but also the iron and steel workers who greatly depend on the automotive industy as their source of income.
Frank Mero, National President of the PMA and the Automotive Industry Workers’ Alliance (AIWA), said that Article 27 of the said agreement violates a current policy which restricts the importation of second-hand vehicles. Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago stated that former Supreme Court Justice Florentino Feliciano asserted that JPEPA is unconstitutional on several grounds thus it may face an impending dismissal. It was also said that JPEPA violated the exclusive tariff setting power of Congress, as stated in Section 24, Article 6 of the Constitution. When approved, it will also infringe the requirement that companies operating in the country will have at least 60 percent Filipinos in the workforce.
Santiago said that the Senate cannot possibly amend the treaty but they can send it back to the executive branch for the renegotiation of the contract.
(Image taken from japan.indymedia.org)
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