AN esteemed friend was so elated by the Philippine Senate deferring its ratification of our membership to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Agreement (RCEP). He rejoiced that our honorable senators finally heard the voice of 51 organizations that objected to its ratification unless the Philippine government installs the necessary competitive enhancement and social protection measures to our farmers and fishers, who he claims will be most adversely affected by RCEP.

RCEP is a free trade agreement among the Asia Pacific nations composed of the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or Asean (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam), plus the three partners of the regional bloc (China, Japan and South Korea), Australia and New Zealand. Eleven states (Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, China and South Korea) have ratified their membership to RCEP, which came into effect on Jan. 1, 2022.