📋 Tender Overview
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda defended the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership RCEP agreement during the period of interpellations elaborating on the expected benefits of the agreement to the country should the Senate grant its concurrence to its ratification.On the question of jobs to be generated under the agreement Zubiri said that RCEP is expected to foster the creation of 1.4 million jobs by 2031- a conservative estimate cited from a study conducted by Dr. Caesar Cororaton.A breakdown of this figure projects the creation of 308000 jobs in agriculture 77000 jobs in industries and 991000 in services.He also reported that non-participation in the RCEP is expected to lead to a -0.26 percent decrease in real GDP according to a study by Dr. Francis Quimba. Participation meanwhile is seen to lead to a 2.02 percent increase in GDP.We will be left behind in foreign direct investments. There will be trade diversion. If we do not join the RCEP investors will go to other countries because their market is wider Zubiri explained.In clothing we used to be the largest garment industry in the region. Now its Made in Cambodia Made in Laos-especially now that theyre in RCEP. Their materials are cheaper under RCEP and our tariff rate is higher. These are lost opportunities for us he said. But we can chase them with RCEP.He also reiterated that protections will remain in place for the agriculture sector.Major Philippine agriculture products are excluded from the RCEP. Their tariffs have not been touched and will not decrease.The excluded agricultural goods from RCEP are swine meat edible offal of bovine swine sheep goats horses asses and mules poultry meat potatoes onions garlic and other alliaceous vegetables cabbages cauliflowers and similar edible brassicas carrots cassava lettuce sweet potatoes coffee and instant coffee corn rice cereal grains other prepared or preserved meat tunas in airtight containers sugar and feed for animals.Apart from the exclusion of these products from tariff reductions Zubiri also stressed that RCEP will open export opportunities for our farmers particularly in the fisheries sector and the processed produce sector.The Senate resolution on the concurrence to the ratification of RCEP comes with a set of guidelines for the implementation of the agreement.Were never going to abandon the agriculture sector and we will have a Senate Special Oversight Committee to make sure that our agencies are following the guidelines and fulfilling their mandate to our farmers fisherfolk and other sectors he promised.
