Officials have been unable to convince the legislators that the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement would be beneficial to the Philippines, said Manuel Villar.

The agreement, signed in September last year, would remove import tariffs on more than 90 percent of goods traded between the two Asian countries, and open the largely closed Japanese labor market to Filipino health workers.

But the Philippine Senate must ratify the agreement for it to become effective, which legislators have yet to do amid claims that the deal favors Japan.

President Gloria Arroyo has described the agreement as an economic priority.

"Personally I'm not impressed with the so-called economic benefits," Villar, seen as a likely candidate in the May 2010 presidential election, told reporters.

Nevertheless, he said he had an open mind and could still be convinced of the deal's merits, although he favors the renegotiation of the agreement.

Environmental groups have campaigned against the treaty allegedly because it would allow Tokyo to dump hazardous waste in the Philippines disguised as exports.

Villar said the activists "are better at presenting their case."

The free trade agreement is one of a draft of bilateral or regional deals being negotiated or signed by Asian countries amid a breakdown in the Doha round of the World Trade Organisation trade talks.

Apart from his reservations over the trade deal with Japan, Villar said he thought the Philippines was "doing well" economically.

"We know we're on the verge of a takeoff," he said, adding an Asian boom rather than Arroyo's leadership was mostly responsible for that.