By Josua Mata, secretary general of Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa
The European Union (EU) and the Philippine government have announced that they have “reached a substantial agreement” on a free trade deal. We are being told to look forward to more trade, investment and jobs.
But there is a simple question the public deserves to ask: What exactly did they agree to?
This is no ordinary tariff agreement. According to the European Commission, it covers government procurement, digital trade, investment, intellectual property, energy and raw materials, while liberalising more than 94 percent of tariff lines covering over 97 percent of bilateral trade. It would also open the Philippine government-procurement market to foreign bidders for the first time.
These are not technical details. They can affect where public money goes, how our government regulates business, what happens to Filipino enterprises, and how much room the Philippines retains to build its own industries.
More importantly, in whose interests were these rules negotiated?
Trade agreements are often presented as if everyone gains equally. They don’t. The benefits and costs are distributed among workers, farmers, small businesses and large corporations very differently. When markets and public procurement are opened, those with more capital and greater capacity to compete are better positioned to take advantage of the new opportunities.
Workers have heard the promise of “more investment” and “more jobs” many times. Too often, investment grows while wages remain low, precarious work persists and Filipino producers struggle to survive.
This is why the public should not be expected to celebrate an agreement it has not seen.
Sentro calls for the full negotiated text, schedules and annexes to be made public as soon as they are finalized, followed by genuine consultation with workers, farmers, MSMEs, consumers and other affected sectors before the agreement is signed.
The government may have reached a substantial agreement with the EU. It has not yet reached an agreement with the Filipino people.
Show us the deal. Let us see who gets what—and who pays for it.
