“Foreign investors will favor locating in other RCEP countries, including those already in the Philippines, who are likely to move their business out of the country the longer we delay ratification,” MAP said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Philippines is one of two countries yet to ratify RCEP, along with fellow ASEAN member Myanmar. One of the other holdouts, Indonesia, signed on at the end of August. “The threat of likely diversion by their buyers of their business to other members already in RCEP is very real,” it said. “This means that there is no guarantee that we will be able to avail of and benefit from such opportunities especially if competing countries who are also part of RCEP are more competitive, dependable, and efficient than us,” he added.
Senator Imelda Josefa Remedios R. Marcos, who chairs the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, has said that the DA’s track record of preferring imports instead of developing productive farms has been cited as a potential deal-breaker within the chamber. “We encourage imports only when domestic production is not enough to address our demand,” he added. “With respect to the agriculture and fishery sector under RCEP, we assure the committee that we will continue to engage our stakeholders.”