Business groups back RCEP ratification

MANILA, Philippines — An alliance of employers has urged the Senate to ratify the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement, saying the country cannot afford to be left behind.

The Philippines is the only one among the 10 member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its five free trade agreement partners – Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea – that has not ratified the agreement.

In a statement, Sergio Ortiz-Luis, president of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), said a Senate ratification of RCEP “will bring us competitive with others, at least to a certain degree.” He said that “among our ASEAN neighbors, we are at the tail end.”

Earlier, the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham) made the same appeal. The Senate is expected to make its decision on the trade deal on Tuesday.

“We can’t afford not to have trade agreements and, at the same time, to not be part of it,” he pointed out. “Everyone has joined already,” he added.

Ortiz-Luis stressed that doubts about the country’s competitiveness to enter a free trade deal are misplaced.

“We have lessons in the past, we enter into negotiations without involving the private sector. And by the time we are allowed to take part there are already promised safeguards, especially in the agriculture sector, that have disappeared, so there are bad lessons,” Ortiz-Luis said.

“Fortunately, in the case of RCEP, this is widely debated on and for a long time, so we are already familiar. And if there are vacuums, these have been filled up, there are safeguards already,” he said.

As to perceived fears about RCEP’s disadvantageous effects on the agricultural sector, the ECOP head said that these have been addressed repeatedly “so the risks are very minimal, if ever.”

“We have waited long enough for this (ratification) and we are very late already. All the others have overtaken us,” Ortiz-Luis said.

“Today we strongly urge the honorable members of the Philippine Senate to immediately ratify RCEP,” AmCham said in a statement on Friday.

The Philippines cannot afford to leave itself out of the bloc since being a member will harness economic benefits that will hasten recovery from the scars, higher debt and economic damages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” it added.

“This will encourage more foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the country which ultimately translates into more jobs for Filipinos,” the Amcham said.

“RCEP will expand the foreign markets that Philippine products can be exported to, hence it will offer new advantages to exporters located in the Philippines that will benefit our member companies,” it added.

Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual said earlier that the country’s delayed participation in the RCEP would lead to the diversion of investments to other participating countries.

“Considering that a number of trading partners and competitors are also participating in this agreement, delays in the Philippine participation will result in the diversion of trade and investments toward our neighboring countries, which are already within the regional bloc, at the expense of our local industry and people,” Pascual said at a recent Senate hearing.

“As other countries in the region enjoy preferential treatment arising from enhanced market access, wider sourcing of raw materials and a strengthened and transparent trading system, the existing linkages of the Philippines to the global value chain may deteriorate as investors and businesses look to other countries for better economic environment and opportunities,” he said. – Jose Rodel Clapano