Senate sets into motion JPEPA ratification process

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said yesterday the Senate would immediately start the ratification process for the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) but she explained that it would take at least three months to determine whether the accord could be ratified.

Santiago, chairman of the Senate committee on foreign relations, said she has prepared public hearings on the JPEPA.

She was aware that the JPEPA ratification was identified as a priority measure during the meeting of the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) last Tuesday, which she was not able to attend because of her cold.

“Since JPEPA is voluminous, I have divided it into certain topics so that all the persons requested to testify will be complying with a certain set of topics in the order in which they have been listed,” Santiago said.

She said the committee will be open-minded and hear both sides. The panel is now ready with the invitations and the list of topics, so “all we need to do is wait for the committees to be organized in the Senate to start the hearings as soon as possible.”

Santiago said it would take some time for her to finish the hearings because she wants to hear all different points of view, analyze all criticisms and investigate them if valid.

“Under the rules of court, President Arroyo enjoys presumption of regularity in the performance of her official duties,” Santiago said, adding that she would presume the JPEPA was negotiated and signed for the welfare of the country and could only be overturned by evidence to the contrary.

Sen. Manuel Roxas II said the JPEPA was actually referred to the Senate committee of the whole and thus deliberations on the subject could be hastened.

“This is a subject that the committee of the whole, the entire Senate, can discuss. It will save one step, instead of hearing it in committee and then recommending it on the floor for another round of discussion,” he said.

Roxas said the LEDAC meeting he attended was productive, but the next important step would be to pass priority measures discussed in the meeting.

“The committees now have been organized in the Senate. We expect the Senate to hasten the deliberation of these measures. Likewise, in the House of Representatives. I’m quite optimistic that there will be a great deal of productive legislative action in the coming months,” he added.

Among many bills that have been discussed during the LEDAC, Roxas said he was pleased with the consensus to prioritize measures that are already in the pipeline, including the Affordable Medicine Bill.

Other items discussed include the JPEPA, agrarian reform, and the environmental challenge due to global warming, which is connected to the drought presently being experienced.