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FTA seeks review of ‘midnight’ EOs

06/18/2010

The multisectoral group Fair Trade Alliance (FTA) wants President-elect Noynoy Aquino to review what it called “midnight executive orders” issued by outgoing President Arroyo, primarily Executive Order (EO) 877-A or the Comprehensive Motor Vehicle Development Program (CMVDP) which allows the importation of used cars and the restructuring of tariffs for imported vehicles.

Under its proposed agenda for the first 100 days of the Aquino administration, the FTA lined up several economic measures that it wants the new president to “review, recall or revoke” due to their alleged adverse impact on various sectors of the economy.

Oppositors of the EO, which was allegedly enacted without sufficient public consultation, claimed that EO 877-A allows the tinkering of tariff structures to choose winners and losers in the auto-making and vehicle importation industries, the FTA said in a statement.

During the FTA convenor’s meeting in Quezon City, the group said it has written at least three letters inquiring about the status of the questioned EO but got no response from Malacañang or the Department of Trade and Industry.

Apart from EO 877-A, the group also wanted Aquino to renegotiate the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (Jpepa) stressing that the same is lopsided in favor of Japan. FTA said it will create a multi-stakeholder task force that will coordinate directly with the Aquino administration to find out if Jpepa really achieved its goal or if the Philippines got a raw deal.

At the same time, the group also outlined the following urgent concerns that the new administration should focus on: issuance of an EO for the Freedom of Information, in lieu of the botched approval of the FoI bill in Congress; an EO creating the Philippine Trade Representative Office; review of bilateral trade agreements; enhanced tax collection instead of new taxes; and appointment of people of known integrity and competence in key Cabinet posts.

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