JPEPA, ANOTHER GRAND DECEIT

The Supreme Court, in its decision on the fraudulent People’s Initiative, has pronounced that it is an “agenda” of PGMA. Such agenda has deceived more than six million people who were duped into signing a document for Charter Change. And yet, soon after the decision was rendered, the issue on JPEPA emerged.

JPEPA stands for Japan-Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement. It is by far the dumbest agreement or treaty PGMA has entered into.

JPEPA allows the dumping of toxic waste of Japan to the Philippines. Simply put, our country will become the garbage pit of the dirtiest and most hazardous waste at no cost at all to Japan (zero tariff).

Worse, PGMA kept the agreement secret even to the Senate which is supposed to review any treaty entered into by our country with any other country. Sen. Pia Cayetano said, “I can’t see any reason why the government should continue keeping the public in the dark on our commitments a month after the pact’s signing.”

The reality is that Japan produces more than 400 million tons of industrial waste alone every year. In simple terms, that would be about 70,000 shiploads of garbage.

In fact, in 1999, according to World Health Organization, a Japanese Company shipped 6,000 tons of waste that included used diapers, stained sanitary napkins, disposable plastic syringes and surgical gloves to our country. The incident drew complaints and prompted Japan to take back the shipment.

PGMA’s compliant cabal in the Department of Trade and Industry justified the inclusion of the toxic waste in the agreement as a “come on” for Japan to sign the agreement which they figured may not be implemented due to its illegality as it is banned by existing national and international laws. However, Atty. Jeremy Gatdula, a specialist in trade services, dismissed such hogwash reasoning. He said, when JPEPA is ratified, it could override the bans.

When interviewed on ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC), Dr. Rene Opreneo, Executive Director of Fair Trade Alliance, disclosed that JPEPA as a whole will not even substantially benefit our country. It will tie our hands in dealing with other countries due to some provisions on exclusivity.

PGMA might not have realized that the dumping of hazardous and toxic waste into our communities will endanger public health and the integrity of our ecology. Even the DENR confirmed that our environment will suffer as a consequence of the flawed agreement. But has PGMA really cared?

Now, we are facing the embarrassment of preparing amendments to JPEPA as it shows the prospects of really hurting public health and our environment.

A story had been told that a species from planet Mars recently landed in Japan. He then visited a blighted area in the Philippines. He learned that 50 years ago, we were at war with Japan. The Mars “man” had only one conclusion: “That Japan won the war!”

Such a pathetic story is not far from reality. We have truly become a country of losers due to the acts of an erstwhile economist president whose dumb decisions have placed our nation in utter disarray.