Furor Over JPEPA: Will Davao’s Banana Workers Benefit From It?
• Peasant Group Warns of More Chemical Poisoning in Davao Due to JPEPA
• Exporters to Use JPEPA to Lobby for Direct Davao-Tokyo Flights
• JPEPA a pest to farmers, say Davao activists
A controversial bilateral trade agreement between the Philippines and Japan promises enormous economic opportunities for Filipinos, among them agricultural producers such as the banana workers and growers in the Davao regions. That, at least, is the Arroyo administration’s line. What they’re not telling the public is that, apart from the environmental hazards it poses, the agreement is a one-sided trade pact that benefits the Japanese more. The agreement, according to some economists, will also set a precedent that will further erode the Philippine economy. Davao Today’s Carlos H. Conde reports.
Will these workers in a banana packing plant in Compostela Valley benefit from JPEPA? Some economists don’t think so. As it is, many of these workers are overworked and underpaid. Several of them, in fact, have been fired by the company. (davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)
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[...] Davaotoday [link] [...]
[...] The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, in a statement issued today, warned that more chemical poisoning — such as the one that happened in the Tadeco banana plantation last Wednesday — might occur in Davao in the future due to the JPEPA, the treaty entered into by the Philippines and Japan that allows the trade between countries of toxic wastes. [...]
[...] Related Posts:Davao-Tokyo Flight PushedPeasant Group Warns of More Chemical Poisoning in Davao Due to JPEPAFuror Over JPEPA: Will Davao’s Banana Workers Benefit From It?Long Afterward, War Still Devastates Filipinos [...]
[...] For every 1000 tons of waste incinerated in Japan, 100 tons of toxic ash residue must be disposed of but Japan obviously has no space for this, so what to do? In September 2006, Japan and the Philippines signed a free trade agreement, JPEPA, and pressure is being exerted by Philippine exporters for their country’s Senate to ratify it. JPEPA is one of the many such agreements Japan has entered into lately, which are part of what is now a trend among developed countries — primarily Japan, the US and those in Europe — to negotiate bilateral trade pacts following the collapse of the Doha round of negotiations at the World Trade Organization. [...]
junk jpepa! bweset!