President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. thought that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) would be good for the country because of the increased trade it would bring to different member economies.
Marcos said this as he brushed off criticisms that the free trade agreement would go against the principle of self-sufficiency.
In a media interview aboard PR 001 on his way back to Manila from his five-day working visit in Japan, the President responded to comments arguing the measure would injure the country's local industries.
“I don’t see the logic in that. Actually it will be the contrary because... right now kung wala tayo sa RCEP, hindi natin ma-access ang kanilang mga markets. Iyong mga – lalo na ‘yung mga supply chain na available na ibinigay ngayon sa ASEAN (If we're not part of RCEP, we cannot access the markets, especially the supply chain given to ASEAN),” Marcos explained.
"Para sa akin (For me) is to the advantage of the Philippines the supply chains, the different non-traditional suppliers of agricultural inputs, of agricultural commodities, puwede nating ma-access yun (we can access them). Without RCEP, we cannot do that," he added.
RCEP is a free trade agreement (FTA) between the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its five FTA partners: Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea.
According to the President, the Philippines will continue increasing its agricultural value chain investment to make it more competitive. He said RCEP would further strengthen the country's agricultural value chain.
“It opens more trade, more trade. And lagi kong sinasabi ‘di ba walang yumaman na bansa kung hindi dahil sa trade at kailangan we have to involve ourselves in that,” Marcos stressed.
The President also said he is not lobbying for RCEP in Congress but waiting for it to be ratified.
The Philippines is the only one left behind in ratifying it among its Southeast Asian neighbors.
"So we are leaving ourselves out there, isolating ourselves from the free trade zone that ASEAN is. So sayang naman ‘yung opportunity (It's a wasted opportunity). That's why I think RCEP will be a good thing," the chief executive said.
The Philippine Senate has been deliberating on RCEP with hearings at the sub-committee level.