THE United States-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is the most contentious international treaty in memory.
It starts from the fact that the US government has not released a full copy of the agreement. In fact, the most detailed information comes from the group WikiLeaks. The controversy has been going on for 18 months, and negotiations started five years ago.
For an agreement that will cover about 40 percent of the global economy, shrouded in secrecy and confusion even from supporters, no one seems that enthusiastic about TPP, except government officials and multinational corporations.
US labor unions say that the TPP will allow a massive inflow of foreign workers pushing Americans out of their jobs. South Koreans are opposed, because the potential to disrupt their beef and rice industries is very real, as they must open up to foreign imports. Because the TPP requires signatories to adhere to US copyright regulations, Japanese artists are furious that the Japanese tradition of “self-publishing” will be curtailed.
All countries must also follow a drug-patent extension provision, which, according to the US publication the New England Journal of Medicine, will “cause an increase in medical drug prices in less-developed countries, as generic drugs might not be available until the US Food and Drug Administration gives its approval.”
As recently as April 3, Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo, said there is not enough time for the Philippines to join the TPP.
The song has now changed. From the BusinessMirror on June 25: “The Philippines is definitely joining the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership bloc once presented the opportunity, Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo said on Thursday.”
But here is the kicker: “The DTI noted that the TPP will require liberalizing restrictions on foreign-equity ownership and government procurement and adopting zero tariffs for all products with sensitivities to agriculture and industrial products. The DTI conceded that ‘selected sections of the Constitution may be amended at a certain point when the Philippines takes a solid step toward joining the TPP.’”
While we will give Domingo the benefit of the doubt for thinking out loud about possible future discussions, the irony of all this is unmistakable.
The Philippines is “definitely joining” a trade agreement of which no one in the public has seen the details. We have not been enlightened on any of the specific benefits or disadvantages to the Philippines. The TPP requires changes to the economic provisions of the Philippine Constitution that has strong opposition and that Congress has already tacitly rejected.
Why the sudden urgency for joining the TPP? Is there any chance at all that the Philippines must be a part of the TPP and change the Constitution because of US pressure in light of the current situation in the West Philippine Sea? Things are never what they appear to be.
source: Business Mirror
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