THE Philippines joined the US-led regional economic grouping called Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), but downgraded its representation during the leaders’ virtual summit called in by US President Joe Biden from Tokyo, Japan.
IPEF is composed of 13 countries led by QUAD nations—US, Japan, India, and Australia—plus seven Asean members Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as Asean partners South Korea and New Zealand.
It represents 40 percent of the global gross domestic product, and 60 percent of the world’s population. The US estimates the Indo-Pacific region will be the biggest contributor of global growth over the next 30 years.
The elephant in the room—China—was excluded from IPEF. China has its own regional economic initiative called Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) which the Philippines is also a member of, although the Senate has yet to ratify the accession treaty.
Among the IPEF members, the US and India are not members of RCEP.
It is not known why President Duterte snubbed the summit launch on May 23, which was held virtually online. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, who represented Duterte, read his statement last May 23.
In a statement, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said IPEF regional partners “placed emphasis on ensuring that the IPEF is open to all countries in the region, is mutually beneficial, translates to concrete action plans, and with Asean at its core.”
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan clarified that IPEF will be an “open platform” and would welcome other member-countries who would like to join them.
However, unlike RCEP and the defunct US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership, US President Joe Biden wanted the US re-engagement to Asia with a twist.
“IPEF is not a traditional free trade agreement and is in fact a feature of IPEF, not a bug,” Sullivan stressed.
The US said IPEF is a “21st century economic arrangement” that targets to address 21st century economic challenges that also transgresses governance issues—such as digital economy, supply chains, clean energy infrastructure, clean energy transition, transparency, fair taxation and anti-corruption.
“Reading the remarks of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, Secretary Lopez acknowledged the general alignment of the broad themes of the IPEF in advancing resilience, sustainability, inclusiveness and competitiveness and the Philippines’ economic and development priorities. The Philippines sees the IPEF as complementing individual and collective efforts towards inclusive recovery, and US support for Asean member-states in the pursuit of IPEF initiatives will be critical,” the DFA said in a statement.