26 April 2007 (Manila, Philippines) – A majority of the senatorial candidates who participated in the Green Electoral Initiative (GEI) that was recently launched by civil society groups, staked positions rejecting the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) based on environmental and health grounds and threw their support for the ratification of the Basel Ban Amendment, which would prohibit toxic waste exports from countries, such as Japan, to the Philippines.

Eleven of the 19 Senatorial candidates rejecting JPEPA are comprised of six Genuine Opposition (GO) candidates (Nikki Coseteng, Ping Lacson, Loren Legarda, John Osmeña, Koko Pimentel and Sonia Roco), three Team Unity (TU) candidates (Mike Defensor, Tito Sotto and Miguel Zubiri), and one from the Ang Kapatiran Party or AKP (Zosimo Paredes) and one from an independent (Gringo Honasan).

Thirteen candidates are in favor of ratifying the Basel Ban Amendment, consisting of two from TU (Ed Angara, Mike Defensor,), six from GO (Nikki Coseteng, Ping Lacson, Loren Legarda, Koko Pimentel, John Osmeña and Sonia Roco), three from AKP (Martin Bautista, Zosimo Paredes and Adrian Sison), and two independents (Gringo Honasan and Kiko Pangilinan).

The rejections coming from candidates were stern, as the one from former Senator Loren Legarda, “I am against the treaty mainly because it will make the Philippines a dumping ground of foreign waste material. In addition, the so-called “benefits” our country will get from the treaty is more apparent than real. Such benefits are largely ignorable if we are to compare it to the destruction of our environment, which will be the inevitable consequence if such wastes are dumped in our country. Without mincing words, this treaty should be sacked.”

Former Sen. Nikki Coseteng acquiesced with former Sen. Legarda, saying that “the Senate should not ratify JPEPA. Any senatorial candidate that will support JPEPA does not deserve to be in the Senate.”

A few of the candidates who rejected JPEPA gave very detailed and analytical reasons for their position; foremost among this group is candidate Mrs. Sonia Roco. Aside from the environmental angle, Mrs. Roco elaborated that “there are no safety nets put in place that will allow the Philippines to maximize the foreign direct investment to be had from Japan from this agreement. There is no guarantee of technology and skills transfer and there is lack of assured employment of Filipinos as a corollary effect of these investments.” She also raised the specter of the constitutional ramifications of the treaty.

Six of the Senatorial bets from the pool of 19, wanted to study the JPEPA treaty further before coming out with a position, but considered the primacy of the environment and social costs over the treaty in evaluating JPEPA. This batch consisted of four TU candidates (Edgardo Angara, Cesar Montano, Tessie Aquino-Oreta and Chavit Singson), one GO (Manny Villar), and one independent (Kiko Pangilinan).

“The responses we received from the candidates were varied at best. Some called for a renegotiation, a majority posited outright rejection, and one or two sneaked in with very vague answers. The common thread among all of their answers, however, is the primacy placed on the environment and health of the Filipinos. This is a positive indicator and we should hold these candidates accountable to it,” stated Richard Gutierrez of the Basel Action Network (BAN), a participant in the GEI project.

“The GEI project has been a success, as it has brought to fore candidates from leading parties who have staked their positions clearly favoring the environment. This sends a very strong signal to Japan that if it wishes to see JPEPA survive after May 14, the “toxic” and other exploitative provisions must go,” stated Marie Marciano, Steering Committee member of the EcoWaste Coalition, which co-convened the GEI.

JPEPA is a proposed a bilateral preferential trade treaty between Japan and the Philippines that seeks to remove barriers to investments and the trade of goods and services between the two countries. JPEPA also confers preferential tariff treatment over hazardous wastes, other forms of wastes, banned chemicals and products, and waste nuclear fuels.

Civil society groups from the Philippines and across the region have criticized the Japanese government for including these “toxic provisions” in JPEPA, as it paves the way to the creation of a toxic waste colony in the Philippines.

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For More Information:

1. See GEI Survey Results at www.greenpeace.org.ph/gei/

2. The Basel Ban Amendment of 1995 prohibits exports of hazardous wastes (for any purpose) from
developed countries (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, European Union,
Liechtenstein) to developing countries. The Philippines has ratified the Basel Convention, but not the Basel Ban Amendment (www.basel.int).

Contact:

Richard Gutierrez, Basel Action Network Asia Pacific in Manila at: Tel: +63.0917.506.7724; e-mail:
rgutierrez@ban.org

Marie Marciano, EcoWaste Coalition in Manila at Tel: +63.0920.273.5325; e-mail: marie_marciano@yahoo.com.