Voting 21 in favor, 1 against and 1 abstention, the Senate ratified Resolution No. 1188 regarding the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Philippines and South Korea on September 18. This agreement opened up the Philippine local economy to the influx of cheap South Korean products.

The FTA will harm Filipino small industries and agriculture. Under the agreement, tariffs will be removed on 94.8% South Korean products entering the country. Most of these are electronic parts for semiconductor factories owned by foreign companies (many are also Korean), cars and auto parts, shampoo and soap and agricultural products. On South Korea’s part, it will supposedly remove tariffs on Philippine bananas, pineapples and other exports of large commercial plantations.

Only Sen. Koko Pimentel opposed the agreement. (His minority bloc partner, Sen. Risa Hontiveros, voted in favor of the neoliberal agreement.) Pimentel is not convinced that Filipino farmers will benefit from the FTA as it favors large agricultural corporations that have a monopoly on Philippine food exports.

Ibon Foundation’s Sonny Africa said the Philippine government should focus more on establishing its own industry because the removal of tariffs on Philippine exports is unlikely to substantially boost the economy.

He said the FTA is not in the framework of national industrialization, and is thus a step backwards. These FTA investments will not be embeded in the local economy to contribute to the broader development of national industrialization, he said.

The Federation of Free Farmers also said South Korea’s advantage from removing the tariff on their vehicles and cars will gain much, and the ordinary Filipino farmer will get nothing. It said any benefit will only go to the multinational corporations that produces most of the Philippine food exports, such as Del Monte and Dole.