Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri said he is confident the Philippines will reap more benefits as the Philippines joins the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement.

On Tuesday night, February 21, the Senate gave its concurrence in the ratification of the RCEP, voting 20-1-1, allowing the country to finally join the 14 other countries that have begun to implement the agreement. 

The bill, sponsored by Zubiri and co-sponsored by Senate President Pro-Tempore Loren Legarda, received 20 affirmative votes, one negative vote, and one abstention. 

The Philippines is the last country to concur in its ratification. The country will be joining the biggest free trade agreement covering the ASEAN region, including Japan, South Korea, China, New Zealand, and Australia.

“RCEP has been a long time coming. Now that we can see how our neighboring countries have reaped the benefits of joining the agreement, I am confident that we have made the right choice by finally concurring on its ratification,” Zubiri said. 

“This will put us on equal footing with our neighbors, rules and policies-wise. We will prevent trade diversion, and we will be giving our industries a fair chance at being truly competitive,” the Senate leader added. 

Groups concerned about the Philippines’ participation in the RCEP, particularly the agriculture sector, have opposed the ratification of the measure, 

But Zubiri said “we have the full commitment of the Executive (department) to make RCEP work, and that starts with the successful implementation of developmental programs for various sectors, especially the agri (agriculture) sector.” 

“So if we have to, let us double the budget for the agriculture sector, and let us make sure that the budget actually goes to the right programs,” he further said.

“With or without RCEP, there remains a lot of problems to address in our agriculture sector, like smuggling and under-implementation of our programs. But if we don’t join RCEP, we are also depriving other industries opportunities for growth,” he explained.

“We have to look at the totality of it. Let us fix our problems in the agri sector, while also giving our other industries a  fair chance to grow under RCEP. And then, down the line, when we have adequately empowered our agri sector, they can also begin to take advantage of the benefits of RCEP,” he added.

Nevertheless, Zubiri said he is confident the country has “taken a step in the right direction” with the Senate’s concurrence in the ratification of the RCEP.

“We have opened the door to better trade rules and policies, and we have given our industries, our people, and our country a fighting chance in the RCEP region,” he stressed.