Solons score injunction vs Safeguard Measures Act

At least 102 congressmen have crossed political party-lines to signify their outrage over a recent court injunction that would virtually allow imports to suffocate local industries and potentially result in widespread unemployment, foregone government revenues, and the loss of overall investor confidence in the Philippines.

Authored by Bukidnon Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri, House Resolution 243 expresses the "deep concern" of the House of Representatives over the dire implications of the court injunction issued by the Valenzuela City Regional Trial Court against Republic Act 8800 or the Safeguard Measures Act, one of the crucial safety nets that government has put in place in line with its over-all thrust towards globalization and trade liberalization.

According to the legislators who signed the resolution, the injunction "would result in the massive loss of jobs and revenues for the cash-strapped government and dissuade foreign entities from investing in the Philippines due to the whimsical and unpredictable way by which the country’s trade and business laws are implemented."

The lawmakers were reacting to the Sept. 14 decision of Judge Floro Alejo of Branch 172 of the Valenzuela City RTC to bar the Departments of Trade and Industry, and of Agriculture, from implementing the Safeguard Measures Act. Alejo’s ruling stemmed from a petition filed by a group of cement and tile importers, who have sought an injunction against RA 8800 on the grounds that it was unconstitutional. In their complaint, the importers also impealed the entire Philippine Congress for passing the Safeguard Measures Act last year, the first time that Congress was named in such a suit.

The congressmen said the Alejo injunction "handcuffs" government from addressing the plight of Philippine industries that have been crippled by the continued dumping of cheap imported products into the country. "While the government’s hands are tied by the Alejo ruling, injurious imports are on the rampage throughout the land, eating up the market share of once-vibrant industries, or driving them out of business, as what had happened to the steel, shoe, textile, processed meat and battery industries, among others, and as what is happening now to the cement, tile, tire and corn industries, among others."

With a major safety net like RA 8800 now rendered inutile, the legislators also expressed apprehensions that the dumping problem plaguing agriculture and several Philippine industries would worsen. According to them, with the US economy bound for a recession following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, "there are fears that Asian-made products originally for export to the US would now be diverted to and dumped on the Philippines, where the tariff rates are among the lowest in the region."

"Judge Alejo’s order is tantamount to the declaration of a prolonged holiday for importers, for they can now flood the local market with foreign-made goods with impunity, without fear of paying higher tariff rates," the lawmakers added.

As to the legal aspect of the injunction, the congressmen questioned the validity of Alejo’s ruling, saying RA 8800 was the product of more than "three years of debate, hundreds of public hearings, and countless revisions, not to mention inputs from the legal sector, the academe, industries, international agencies and the Cabinet."

"The law was hailed by all sectors as a crucial safety net which would accompany the country’s drive towards trade liberalization… but before (it) can be tested and before the first safeguard measures application can be acted upon by the (appropriate) government entities, Judge Alejo… issued an order granting a writ of preliminary injunction against the DA, the DTI and Congress from enforcing RA 8800 and its implementing rules and regulations," the congressmen said.

Among those who signed the anti-injunction resolution were Misamis Oriental Rep. Oscar Moreno; Cavite Rep. Gilbert Remulla; San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora; Negros Oriental Reps. Herminio Teves and Apolinario Lozada Jr.; Akbayan Rep. Loretta Anne Rosales; Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo; Leyte Rep. Ted Failon; Malabon-Navotas Rep. Ricardo Sandoval; Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers; Ilocos Sur Rep. Salacnib Baterina; Marinduque Rep. Edmund Reyes; Antipolo Rep. Victor Sumulong; Tarlac Rep. Jesli Lapus; Zamboanga del Sur Rep. Isidro Real; and Lanao del Norte Rep. Alipio Badelles, among others.

The lawmakers also shot down Alejo’s contention that Congress passed RA 8800 in the exercise of its powers of taxation, saying this argument was "without basis as the law was passed by Congress conscious that it was doing so with the exercise of police power – to protect industries from the adverse effects of globalization – in mind."

Among other features, RA 8800 empowers the DA and the DTI secretaries to impose, in defense of a local industry, safeguard measures in the form of higher tariffs or quota restrictions on imports that are deemed to be "injurious." Such safeguards, however, may be implemented for a limited time only.