MIRIAM SEEKS JPEPA CONDITIONAL CONCURRENCE

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, chair of the Senate foreign relations committee, said she is drafting a resolution of conditional concurrence which she hopes to present to her committee and then to sponsor on the Senate floor when session reopens on January 28.

"The process of Senate concurrence will be twofold, consisting of an exchange of notes between the two governments, and passage by the Senate of a resolution expressing conditional concurrence," Santiago said.

Santiago said the target date for the entire process is "before March" in order to finish Jpepa before session adjourns on 29 March 2008.

"The exchange of notes will contain the shared understanding of both governments that Jpepa is consistent with their respective constitutions. Specifically, this refers to the Jpepa provisions to accord national treatment and most favored nation (MFN) treatment to, and to refrain from imposing performance requirements, on Jpepa investors," she said.

Santiago said that constitutional issues in the Philippines are represented by Jpepa provisions on investment in Chapter 8, as well as the Schedule of the Republic of the Philippines in Parts 1 and 2 of Annex 7, giving national treatment and MFN treatment to Japanese investors.

"The Senate concurrence resolution will contain the condition that implementation under Jpepa of national treatment and MFN treatment does not impose any obligation on our country that would be inconsistent with the mandatory provisions of our Constitution," Santiago said.

Santiago also said that the Senate resolution will also contain the condition that Jpepa will not violate the Philippine Constitution relating to the rights of any person to acquire or dispose of immovable property, public or private.

"The Japanese ambassador has graciously accepted this concept in principle. Our government has explained that the conditions of concurrence serve only to confirm the interpretation of Jpepa, and that the Senate resolution will not modify the obligations of the parties. Thus, there will be no need to return the treaty to the Japanese Diet, which is Japan 's main concern," Santiago said.

The senator said that while the exchange of notes will be brief, the Senate resolution will be much longer, because it will list certain reservations and exceptions, many constitutional provisions, and provisions on customs duties.

"It is important that the Senate concurrence resolution should clarify that any Japanese investment in our country should be made in accordance with the requirement of Philippine laws," the senator said.

Santiago said that the concurrence resolution will explicitly contain provisions for additional funding of safety nets and other remedial administrative measures.

The senator said that the concurrence resolution should not be rushed because it has to observe the following constitutional provisions: right to health of the people, protection against unfair foreign competition, ownership of all lands of the public domain, utilization of all natural resources, lease and ownership of alienable public lands, ownership and transfer of private lands, reservation of certain areas of investments to Philippine citizens and corporations, preference to qualified Filipinos in the grant of rights covering the national economy and patrimony, regulation of foreign investments, operation of public utilities, preferential use of Filipino labor and domestic materials, practice of professions, ownership and control of additional institutions, transfer of technology, ownership of mass media, and ownership of corporations in the advertising industry.