RP appointed anew to WTO settlement body

The Philippines was appointed anew on Tuesday as member of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body, an embassy report said yesterday.

The Philippine Permanent Mission to the WTO in Geneva reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) that Ambassador Lilia Bautista was appointed to the WTO appellate body along with three other nominees from the United States, Japan and China.

Bautista will serve a four-year term to begin next month.

The DFA said the renewed appointment of the Philippines as member of the WTO appellate is “another demonstration of the international community’s recognition of the Philippines’ contributions to multilateral trade.”

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said the Philippines’ appointment to the Appellate Body “clearly demonstrated the international community’s trust and confidence in the Philippines and our commitment to the multilateral rules-based trading system and the dispute settlement system in the WTO.”

Romulo said Bautista received the full support of the WTO members because of her “sterling record of service” as scholar, legal practitioner, policy maker, diplomat, trade negotiator, and government regulator in the field of law, trade and economics.

“We are grateful for the trust and support of WTO members, including fellow member states from ASEAN,” Romulo said.

Bautista is currently a consultant of the Philippine Judicial Academy. She also serves as board director of leading Philippine corporations.

She was the Philippine Permanent Representative to the UN, WTO, WHO, ILO, and other international organizations in Geneva from December 1992 to June 1999.

After her assignment in Geneva, Bautista returned to the Department of Trade and Industry in July 1999 to become senior undersecretary and special trade negotiator.

In March 2000, she was appointed chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The Appellate Body, which sits in Geneva, Switzerland, was established in 1995.

It is a standing body of seven persons that hears appeals from reports issued by panels in disputes brought by WTO members.

Its members have recognized standing in the field of law and international trade, and not affiliated with any government.

This is the second time the Philippines has been appointed to the WTO Appellate Body in 12 years. Retired justice Florentino Feliciano served as one of the first members of the Appellate Body from its establishment in 1995.

The Philippines is a founding member of WTO.