Marcos: Senate to tackle RCEP ratification once 2023 budget is passed

The ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will be one of the priorities of the Senate once the proposed P5.268-trillion national budget for 2023 is passed by Congress, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Tuesday.

Marcos said he and Indonesian President Joko Widodo discussed the RCEP, which the Indonesian parliament recently ratified. This left the Philippines and Myanmar as the remaining signatories, which have yet to ratify the trade deal.

Treaties or international agreements entered into by the government require Senate concurrence.

"Pati RCEP napag-usapan namin. ‘Yung pag ra-ratify ng Pilipinas sa RCEP which is going to be very high on the order of business of the Senate after the budget is passed," Marcos said at a briefing before concluding his three-day state visit to Indonesia, his first since assuming the presidency in June.

(We also talked about the RCEP. The Philippines' ratification of the RCEP is going to be very high on the order of business of the Senate after the budget is passed.)

The RCEP is a trade accord that involves the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations along with China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.

According to the Department of Trade and Industry, the RCEP will generate a 10.47% increase in the country’s exports and a 2.02% increase in real gross domestic product.

Marcos had previously voiced his concerns about the trade agreement, saying that he did not know if the nation's agriculture industry was strong enough to withstand the competition that opening markets would bring about. — VBL, GMA News