are we ready for the asean economic...

Are we Ready for the ASEAN Economic Community?

in partnership with:

Action for Economic Reforms -Industrial Policy Team


Jenina Joy ChavezNepomuceno MalaluanArjay Mercado

Action for Economic Reforms – Industrial Policy TeamQuezon City, Philippines

Please direct all correspondence about this publication to [email protected].

© by the authors, 2016

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CONTENTS

Are we ready for the Asean Economic Community? .............................................................................. 1

Introduction ...........................................................................................................................................1

Revisiting ASEAN Regionalism ................................................................................................................1

Why Regionalism? ......................................................................................................................... 2

How Fares ASEAN Regionalism? ..................................................................................................... 3

The ASEAN Economic Community ......................................................................................................... 3

AEC Progress Thus Far .................................................................................................................... 4

Onward to 2025 ............................................................................................................................. 7

The Philippines in AEC: Is it Ready? ...................................................................................................... 8

Government Initiatives and Mechanisms ...................................................................................... 9

Assessment of Preparations ......................................................................................................... 13

Conclusion: Asking the Right Question ............................................................................................... 15

FOI Practice: Accessing Information to Look into the Country’s Preparedness for AEC 2015 ................. 20

Context of Information Need .............................................................................................................. 20

Specific Information Needs ................................................................................................................. 21

Access to Information Experience ....................................................................................................... 21

Insights from the FOI Practice Experience .......................................................................................... 24

The Relevance of FOI in the context of ASEAN Integration .................................................................. 30

Tables and Figures

Box 1 A Quick Scan of Business Outlook on ASEAN ....................................................................... 16

Figure 1 Roadmap for Structural Transformation ............................................................................. 13

Table 1 AEC Milestones, as of 2011 ................................................................................................... 5

Table 2 AEC Scorecard: Compliance by Country ................................................................................ 7

Table 3 ASEAN Economic Community Scorecard (as of October 2013) ............................................ 8

Table 4 AEC Preparatory Activities of Relevant Government Agencies ........................................... 10

Table 5 AER-IP Team FOI Request Log (Report as of August 2015) .................................................. 25

Annexes

Annex A Declaration on the ASEAN Community Blueprint. November 20, 2007 ............................. 33

Annex B Kuala Lumpur Declaration on the Establishment of the ASEAN Community 2015.

November 22, 2015 ............................................................................................................. 35

Annex C Kuala Lumpur Declaration on ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together. November 22, 2015 ... 37

IV

AAMNP ASEAN Agreement on the Movement of Natural PersonsACIA ASEAN Comprehensive Investment AgreementADB Asian Development BankAEC ASEAN Economic CommunityAEM Asia-Europe Meeting AER Action for Economic ReformsAER-IP Team AER-Industrial Policy TeamAFAS ASEAN Framework Agreement on ServicesAFML ASEAN Forum on Migrant LaborAFTA ASEAN Free Trade AgreementAPEC Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation APSC ASEAN Political-Security CommunityAQRF ASEAN Qualifications Reference FrameworkASCC ASEAN Socio-Cultural CommunityASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations ATIGA ASEAN Trade in Goods AgreementCAEC Committee for ASEAN Economic CommunityCHED Commission on Higher EducationCLMV Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and VietnamCSO Civil Society OrganizationsDA Department of AgricultureDA-PPG DA-Policy and Planning GroupDBFTA Doing Business in FTAsDCCAM DOLE Coordinating Committee for ASEAN Matters DepEd Department of EducationDFA Department of Foreign AffairsDOLE Department of Labor and EmploymentDTI Department of Trade and IndustryFEALAC Forum for East Asia-Latin America CooperationFGD Focus Group DiscussionFOI Freedom of InformationFSSI Foundation for a Sustainable SocietyFTA Free Trade AgreementGATS General Agreement on Trade in ServicesHoR House of RepresentativesHPM High-Priority Measures

HRD Human Resource Development HSBC Hongkong Shanghai Banking CorporationIAI Initiatives for ASEAN Integration IDC Industry Development CouncilIEC Information, Education and CommunicationIP Industrial PolicyIPR Intellectual Property Rights JFC Jollibee Foods CorporationMAP Management Association of the PhilippinesMBC Makati Business ClubMRA Mutual Recognition AgreementsMRP Manufacturing Resurgence ProgramNEDA National Economic and Development AuthorityPACCI Philippine Automotive Competitiveness Council, Inc.PAMPI Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc.PCAAC Philippine Council on ASEAN and Asia-Pacific Economic CooperationPCAF Philippine Council for Agriculture and FisheriesPCCI Philippine Chamber of Commerce and IndustryPCIJ Philippine Center for Investigative JournalismPCRC Philippine Council for Regional CooperationPHILEXPORT Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc.PKDs Prioritized Key Deliverables PQF Philippine Qualifications FrameworkPRC Professional Regulatory CommissionSAPA Solidarity for Asian People’s AdvocacySIA Social Impact AssessmentSME Small and Medium EnterpriseTESDA Technical Education and Skills Development AuthorityUN-CSA United Nations Civil Society AssemblyUNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and DevelopmentWB World Bank

ACRONYMS

1

Jenina Joy Chavez1 and Arjay Mercado2

Action for Economic Reforms (AER) – Industrial Policy Team3

1 Jenina Joy Chavez is the Coordinator of the AER-Industrial Policy Team.

2 Arjay Mercado is a Researcher with the AER-Industrial Policy Team.

3 The authors thank Atty. Nepomuceno Malaluan and Dr. Rene Ofreneo for their inputs, and the key informant interviewees, roundtable and focus group participants for their insights.


Introduction

How ready is the region for ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) 2015?

A 2012 survey puts the level of regional awareness of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at 81%. However, this is only in terms of familiarity with the ASEAN name; the lack of basic understanding about the ASEAN is a high 76%. With such weak popularity, it is a concern how much interest and support ASEAN is able to generate for its initiatives. Worse, it puts into question how ASEAN Members prepare their countries for the many commitments they make to the regional association.

The same survey shows that business people have a better understanding of the ASEAN, with some of them involved in regional integration processes. Yet, both business people and the general public alike share common apprehensions about the ASEAN Community, specifically: in the area of labor migration and economic competition, concerned as they are about the development gap in the region (ASEAN 2013). There are three dimensions to the ASEAN Community – political-security, economic and socio-cultural. However, judging from the 2012 survey, it is the economic dimension that ASEAN citizens are most apprehensive about.

It turns out that the apprehension is widespread, and also affects country officials. While the ASEAN Secretariat initially downplayed the significance of the change of the rollout date from1st January to 31st

December 2015 (Secretariat 2012), succeeding reports would point to the differing levels of ASEAN Members’ preparations as among the constraints to AEC 2015 (Ashayagachat 2012; Maierbrugger 2012).

This Primer seeks to give an initial assessment of the Philippines’ readiness for AEC 2015. It starts with a discussion of the role of regionalism in the political economy, and within which it locates ASEAN’s brand of regional cooperation. It gives a background on the elements, targets and ambitions of the AEC, and how far the different ASEAN Members have delivered on their commitments. It is followed by an elaboration and assessment of the efforts done by different agencies to prepare the country for the AEC. It closes with a challenge to look beyond 2015, and to consider broader issues and questions.

Revisiting ASEAN Regionalism

Established in 1967, ASEAN is comprised of the five original Members – Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand; Brunei; and, the CLMV countries – Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam. It has a total population of 623 million, and registered a nominal gross domestic product of US$2.5 trillion in 2014 (World Bank data).

ASEAN had received and continues to receive criticisms about how distant it is from the region’s citizens. This distance is reflected in and causes poor understanding, as indicated by the survey mentioned above. For a long time, too, ASEAN got lukewarm reception from citizens, punctuated by the dearth of regional advocacies and the absence of sustained focus by civil society. Slowly, however, this has been changing, with the regional association becoming more visible, not least because of the new agreements they negotiate and sign, but also because of the increasing importance of regional cooperation.

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Why Regionalism?4

Regional arrangements are important for various reasons, including: the shared regional concerns and problems; the insufficiency of national response and institutions; the failure of the multilateral system; and, the need for greater policy autonomy in the South.

The Asian Financial Crisis of the late 1990s confirmed the interrelatedness of countries in the region, and that capital did not recognize borders. While the Philippines, having attracted but a small proportion of the capital that descended on the region in the past decade, did not suffer as much as the other Asian economies, the regional character of the economic malaise was undeniable. When another financial crisis hit in late 2000s, the interest in how the region responded was unmistakable.

Beyond high finance which punctuates the region’s susceptibility to crisis, ASEAN Members have other shared issues, among which are: migration (a substantial proportion of total in-migration into the region is accounted for by migrants within the region), public health (growing regional mobility intensifies concerns over the spread of infectious diseases like avian flu, SARs, HIV/AIDS), the environment and climate (the climate has no boundaries), the development gap (wide economic and social disparity within and between countries), and territorial disputes (the overlapping claims over the South China Sea).

The nature of these concerns is such that no single country will be able to address them on their own. The gaping development gap in the region also leaves many of the smaller economies unable to respond to these problems adequately. A regional response, therefore, becomes essential to reinforce national action.

The need for regional response has been highlighted by the revealed weaknesses of multilateral mechanisms designed to address concerns brought about by globalization. The legitimacy of international financial institutions has been criticized (Brennan and Olivet 2007), pointing to their push for liberalization policies that often undermine social policies. There is a lack of democracy in global institutions – most are still controlled by the richest countries and developing countries have limited power.

This democratic deficit in the multilateral system highlights the role of regions, making possible what Bello (2002) proposes as the development of new centers of power and influence. Alliances among South-South regions also have the potential of challenging North-South power relations (Keet 2006). By being able to “modify the power relations…though the pooling of bargaining power and negotiating skills among developing countries” (Girvan, 2005), regionalism can offer policy autonomy in the South, a refuge from the policy intervention by multilateral institutions, and a recourse away from their marginalization in global negotiations. Indeed, there is growing acceptance that “to meet common challenges, pooling regional resources might be a sensible way forward” (UNCTAD 2007). An important contribution of ASEAN can also be in the structuring of the countries’ relationship to take common stances and joint actions in the international arena (Edblad 1996).

Regionalism, however, is fraught with dilemmas, between its democratic potential counter to the global powers and institutions, and the distributional impacts among countries within a regional initiative. If limited to trade and economic integration, regionalism can replicate the inequity of the global system, as the benefits of regional economic growth have been unevenly distributed between and within countries (te Velde, Page and Morrissey 2005).

Culling from recent examples of what can be described as “alternative regionalism”, foremost but not limited to the Bolivarian experiments in Latin America (see Berrón, Chavez, Olivet and Rodríguez 2013), it can be said that regionalism can provide a constructive alternative to the limitations and problems of global institutions. However, such alternative regionalism should be characterized by a broader scope beyond trade and investment integration, and include the provision of appropriate regional public goods that can have appreciable impact on poverty and wellbeing (Chavez 2006, 2007 and 2010).

How Fares ASEAN Regionalism?

In 1997, Leaders of the Association launched the ASEAN Vision 2020, a vision of “ASEAN as a concert of Southeast Asian nations, outward looking, living in peace, stability and prosperity, bonded together in partnership in dynamic development and in a

4 This section draws from previous works, including Chavez 2006, 2007 and 2010.

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community of caring societies” (ASEAN 1997). This declaration signed in Kuala Lumpur outlined what would later be established as the three pillars of the ASEAN Community: the ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC), the AEC, and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC), formalized in the Bali Concord II (ASEAN 2003). The Cebu Summit in 2007 further refined the ASEAN Vision 2020 by accelerating the establishment of the ASEAN Community to 2015 (ASEAN 2007). Towards this, a Roadmap for an ASEAN Community (ASEAN 2009) was prepared, with the APSC, the AEC and the ASCC having their own blueprints.

Despite having a vision for a holistic regional community, an enduring criticism of ASEAN is the alleged lopsided emphasis it gives to economic integration. Indeed, the AEC Blueprint was the first to be completed (the two other blueprints would take at least one more year to finish), and was signed on the same day as the ASEAN Charter (20 November 2007), which many took as demonstrating the primacy ASEAN placed on the economic pillar. References have also been made to AEC 2015, but there has been no similar reference to an APSC 2015 or an ASCC 2015. The APSC and ASCC Blueprints also lack the detailed elaboration of priority actions, benchmarks and target dates that the AEC Blueprint has.

It is not the case that ASEAN has had a longer experience in economic matters than in political and socio-cultural concerns. ASEAN’s raison d’être had been patently political, and its operations had been characterized by functional cooperation best expressed in socio-cultural issues. In contrast, economic agreements in ASEAN had been halting and suffered many setbacks. Its preferential trade agreement and many of its economic complementation schemes were either replaced or scrapped within a decade of weak implementation. It introduced a free trade agreement to succeed many of the previous agreements, spurred by concerns over growing regionalism in the North. It is this growing economic competition and globalization that started a refocusing of ASEAN’s economic agreements, which would be harmonized with most of the existing global rules. The economic pillar has thus become the arena of robust negotiations and commitments. The political-security and socio-cultural pillars would be fields rife with contentions and sensitive discussions, not to mention the target of wide-ranging civil society advocacy. But here, regional agreements and commitments come few and far

between. These realities punctuate the current focus on the AEC 2015.

The ASEAN Economic Community

The AEC talks about a stable, prosperous, and highly competitive region, with equitable economic development, and reduced poverty and economic disparities. Its goal is for complete liberalization and opening up of the regional economy by 2015.

The AEC has four pillars:

- A single market and production base – This means that barriers to trade in goods and services will be reduced or pushed to a minimum. This also sees as an end the free flow of investment, capital, and skilled labor. Under the AEC, the following priority integration sectors are promoted: agro-based products, air travel, automotive, e-ASEAN, electronics, fisheries, healthcare, rubber-based products, textiles and apparels, tourism, and wood-based products. Logistics has also been included in this list.

- A competitive economic region – This is related to the adoption of regional standards in trade policies and creating an enabling business operating environment. It addresses the issues concerning competition policies, consumer protection, intellectual property rights, infrastructure development, taxation, and e-commerce.

- An equitable economic development – This element addresses the wide disparity in the region, with focus on small and medium enterprise (SME) development and the Initiatives for ASEAN Integration (IAI). The IAI is specifically designed to reduce the development gap among members and to hasten the economic integration of the newer members, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV).

- Integration into the global economy – ASEAN has long embraced open regionalism, and sees economic

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cooperation the region as a platform for attracting foreign direct investments and for launching its export trade. ASEAN, therefore, seeks to make coherent its approaches to external economic relations, and to enhance and prioritize its participation in global supply networks.

There are five major agreements under the AEC (DTI 2014a and 2014b):

- ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) governs trade in the region, and targets the elimination of tariffs, and the eventual inclusion of sensitive productions into the trade agreement. The ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) remains a central component of this.

- ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) aims to enhance cooperation, improve efficiency and competitiveness, and diversify production capacity and supply and distribution of services, within and outside ASEAN. The goal is to substantially eliminate restrictions and to prohibit new limitations to trade in services, and to liberalize trade in services by expanding the depth and scope of liberalization beyond those undertaken by Member States under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), with the end-goal of establishing a free trade area in services. (AFAS 1995 and 2003)

- ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA) guides the liberalization of investment in the region (ACIA 2009).

- ASEAN Agreement on the Movement of Natural Persons (AAMNP) simplifies the requirements and streamlines the process for the entry, transfer, or temporary stay of business visitors, intra-corporate transferees, and contractual service in any ASEAN Member State (AAMNP 2012).

- ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs) recognize the education/experience obtained, requirements met, or licenses/certifications granted in a Member State, for the purpose

of licensing or certification of service suppliers to practice their profession anywhere in ASEAN (MRA 1998).

There are flexibilities, exceptions and restrictions (especially in the flow of money and capital) for newer Members; and participation in economic initiatives may be done through the ASEAN Minus X formula, or the practice by which Member Countries not yet ready to join an economic agreement may opt to delay participation in that particular agreement. However, the strategic goal and commitment is to remove all these restrictions and exceptions, and for all Members to have the same commitments. That is, the CLMV countries may be given longer periods for liberalizing their trade and investment, but everyone will eventually have zero-tariffs in most products, and fully open investment regimes at some point.

For instance, the ASEAN-6: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, have agreed to bring down to zero the tariffs of almost all imports by 2010. The phase-in of sensitive agricultural products, including rice, into the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement will also have to be completed and their tariffs brought down to 0-5%. The CLMV countries have until 2013 (Vietnam), 2015 (Laos and Myanmar) and 2017 (Cambodia) to fully implement AFTA. The ASEAN Investment Area is also expected to be fully established by 2015, with most sectors opened up by 2010, especially in the ASEAN-6 countries.

AEC Progress Thus Far

An AEC Scorecard was set up to monitor Members’ compliance with commitment schedules. Aside from reporting on the progress of implementation of the major agreements in AEC, it also tracks implementation gaps and challenges.

The most recent comprehensive scorecard was published in 2012, assessing compliance with Phase I (2008-2009) and Phase 2 (2010-2011) commitments. Phase I commitments required, among other things, actions on the following: completion of the seventh package of commitments in AFAS requiring higher foreign equity participation; the endorsement of the ACIA Reservation Lists; the finalization and ratification of protocols for the facilitation of goods in transit; and, the liberalization of air freight service. Phase II has broader requirements and a longer list of measures for

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implementation. This includes facilitation measures like the establishment of the ASEAN Customs Transit System and the implementation of the ASEAN Single Window; the harmonization of regional standards and regulations in medical devices, traditional medicines and health supplement, prepared food stuff and automotive, electronic and electricity equipment; and quarantine and inspection procedures. It also includes competition-enhancing measures like the avoidance of double taxation; and framework agreements on inter-state and multi-modal transport. Specific measures referring to SMEs, like the common curriculum for entrepreneurship, and the establishment of SME service centers, are meant to address the issues of equity. The biggest commitments, however, still have

to do with liberalization: in services, investments, passenger air services, and negotiations for the ASEAN-India and ASEAN-Japan economic agreements. (ASEAN Scorecard 2012)

Table 1 summarizes the AEC achievements in the four different pillars. For Phase I, commitments for Pillars III and IV were fully complied with, while 61 of 65 measures committed under Pillar I were implemented. Phase II compliance had been weaker for Pillars I, III and IV, but remained only slightly changed for Pillar II. Overall, as of 2011, on average, two out of three measures were implemented under Pillars I to III, while compliance was a better 85.7% for Pillar IV.

Table1AEC Milestones, as of 2011

Pillar I: Single Market and Production Base Scorecard

Key AreasPhase I (2008 – 2009) Phase II (2010 – 2011) Total Measures

Fully Implemented

Not Fully Implemented

Fully Implemented


Fully Implemented


Free Flow of Goods 9 0 23 24 32 24

Free Flow of Services 10 3 13 17 23 20

Free Flow of Investment 5 1 5 8 10 9

Free Flow of Capital 1 0 5 0 6 0

Free Flow of Skilled Labor

- - 1 0 1 0

Priority Integration Sectors

28 0 1 0 29 0

Food, Agriculture, and Forestry

8 0 5 6 13 6

Total Number of Measures

61 4 53 55 114 59

Implementation Rates* 93.8% 49.1% 65.9%

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Pillar II: Competitive Economic Region Scorecard


Fully Implemented


Fully Implemented


Fully Implemented


Competition Policy 2 0 2 0 4 0

Consumer Protection 2 0 5 4 7 4

Intellectual Property Rights

- - 4 1 4 1

Transport 15 10 6 8 21 18

Energy 0 0 2 1 2 1

Mineral 1 0 7 0 8 0

ICT 2 0 4 0 6 0

Taxation - - 0 1 0 1

E-commerce - - 1 0 1 0


22 10 31 15 53 25

Implementation Rates* 68.7% 67.4% 67.9%

Pillar III: Equitable Economic Development Scorecard


Fully Implemented


Fully Implemented


Fully Implemented


SME Development 1 0 4 3 5 3

Initiative for ASEAN Integration

2 0 1 1 3 1


3 0 5 4 8 4

Implementation Rates* 100% 55.5% 66.7%

Pillar IV: Integration into the Global Economy Scorecard


Fully Implemented


Fully Implemented


Fully Implemented


External Economic Relations

5 0 7 2 12 2


5 0 7 2 12 2

Implementation Rates* 100% 77.8% 85.7%

Source: ASEAN Secretariat (2012a)*Implementation Rate is calculated as the ratio of measures that are fully implemented to total number of measures targeted (-) Indicates no measures targeted for this phase

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Specific country compliance is shown in Table 2. Generally, more than half of country commitments were implemented. The best performance had been on the free flow of skilled labor, the priority integration sectors, competition policy, minerals, information and communication technology, and e-commerce. Only Cambodia registered compliance below 50%, and in only one sector, taxation.

Table 2AEC Scorecard: Compliance by Country

Implementation of AEC Scorecard by Country (2008 – 2011)

Free

Flo

w o

f Goo

ds

Free

Flo

w o

f Ser

vice

s

Free

Flo

w o

f Inv

estm

ents

Free

Flo

w o

f Cap

ital

Free

Flo

w o

f Ski

lled

Labo

r

Prio

rity

Inte

grati

on S

ecto

rs

Food

, Agr

icul

ture

, and

For

estr

y

Com

petiti

on P

olic

y

Cons

umer

Pro

tecti

on

Inte

llect

ual P

rope

rty

Righ

ts

Tran

spor

t

Ener

gy

Min

eral

ICT

Taxa

tion

E-co

mm

erce

SME

Deve

lopm

ent

Initi

ative

for A

SEAN

Inte

grati

on

Exte

rnal

Eco

nom

ic R

elati

ons

Brunei

Cambodia

Indonesia

Lao PDR

Malaysia

Myanmar

Philippines

Singapore

Thailand

Vietnam

ASEAN

Green – Indicates that all measures targeted in this area were implementedYellow – Indicates that more than half of measures targeted in this area were implementedRed – Indicates that less than half of measures targeted in this area were implemented

Source: ASEAN Secretariat (2012a)

The Scorecard has gone through several adjustments, expanding from the original set of 316 to 611 measures. A prioritization of measures was done after the Phnom Penh Summit in 2012, leading to the so-called Prioritized Key Deliverables (PKDs). This was further refined with the identification of the so-called high-priority measures (HPMs) in early 2015, a set of 54 high-impact measures that should be implemented by end-2015. Some measures had been re-prioritized

for implementation post-2015, adjusting the scorecard base to 506 measures. As of end-October 2015, 469 of these 506 measures have been implemented, or an implementation rate of 92.7%. With respect to the full 611 measures, 486 have been implemented, for a 79.5% overall implementation rate. (ASEAN Secretariat 2015a)

Onward to 2025

On November 22, 2015, ASEAN Leaders signed two significant documents: the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on the Establishment of the ASEAN Community 2015, and the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together. The formal establishment of the ASEAN Community has been set and affirmed for December 31, 2015, with the regional grouping

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making a commitment for the “on-going process of ASEAN community building, including an ASEAN Community’s post-2015 vision, guided by the purposes and principles of the ASEAN Charter”. ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together has been presented as the successor to the Roadmap for an ASEAN Community. Aside from the new blueprints for the three communities, the document also mandated the adoption of the third work plan for the IAI and the ASEAN Connectivity by 2016. (ASEAN Secretariat 2015b)

The establishment of the ASEAN Community 2015 signals the further deepening of regional integration in the region. For better or for worse, the Philippines is entangled in this process. The state of readiness, specifically for economic integration, is therefore a crucial benchmark for if and how the country can benefit from regional community building.

The Philippines in AEC: Is it Ready?

Without fail, much of the readiness officially reported by ASEAN Members has to do with compliance with commitments to AEC 2015. This covers the following: (1) initiatives to complete pending obligations as per the work program of AEC 2015; and, (2) specific implementation initiatives to operationalize commitments. In short, Members would say that they are ready for AEC 2015 to the extent that they have completed the measures they committed to the initiative. For instance, the Philippine Government,

What does 87.2% readiness mean?

For the Philippines, this means the full implementation of AFTA or tariff liberalization, except for the end rate for Highly Sensitive Products (rice). Commitments on rules of origin, trade facilitation, standards conformance, the ASEAN Single Window, removal of restrictions in investment, and others have been substantially complied with, as per timetable. In Agriculture, the Philippines has a 0% tariff for 100% of product lines in the Inclusion List. It has applied a 5% tariff on unprocessed agricultural products (Sensitive List) by 2010, except for sugar with a tariff of 38%, but which will brought down to 5% by 2015. Rice as a highly sensitive product is expected to have a 35% tariff by 2015, but will remain to have quantitative restrictions as allowed by its World Trade Organization (WTO) commitment.

In terms of policy changes, the Competition Law and the Amended Cabotage Law signed in July 2015 were in line with AEC 2015 commitments, as were the earlier implemented Open Skies Policy and the SME Development Plan 2010-2016. The country has also completed its 8th Package of Commitments to AFAS in

when asked about readiness, would say that it is 87.2% ready for AEC 2015. Note that this represents the most recent count of measures implemented under its commitments. Table 3 shows this recent count, and the level of readiness ASEAN Members would likely claim they have for AEC 2015.

Table 3ASEAN Economic Community Scorecard (as of October 2013)

ASEAN Member State

Implemented Not Implemented

Implemented Ahead

Ongoing Total Measures

Implementation Rate

Brunei Darussalam

297 48 18 71 434 86.8%

Cambodia 290 56 17 72 435 84.6%Indonesia 289 58 18 72 437 84.1%Lao PDR 287 57 16 74 434 84.2%Malaysia 307 44 20 69 440 88.1%Myanmar 294 51 17 72 434 85.9%

Philippines 302 47 19 71 439 87.2%Singapore 304 38 19 69 430 89.5%Thailand 307 43 20 69 439 88.4%Vietnam 307 41 16 73 437 88.7%

Source: Department of Trade and Industry (2014a)

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September 2012, covering 150 sectors and subsectors, with 15% flexibility (but not in the priority integration sectors). It also provides a cover for Constitutional restrictions. It is currently negotiating the 9th and 10th AFAS packages, but details for which are not yet available for disclosure.

To date, eight MRAs have been signed by ASEAN: engineering services (2005), nursing services (2006), architectural services (2007), surveying qualifications (2007, framework agreement), medical pratitioners (2009), dental practitioners (2009), accountancy services (2009, upgraded to an MRA in 2014), and tourism professionals (2012). The Department of Labor and Employment and the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) are in the process of putting in place policy measures to facilitate implementation.

Such readiness only covers government compliance, including specific policies and actions required of AEC. The other side of readiness, that of the country’s industry groups and constituents who will be affected by the rollout of the AEC, is a less straightforward.

Government Initiatives and Mechanisms for AEC

To determine the specific mechanisms used by the Government to prepare for or deal with AEC, the AER – Industrial Policy Team made several requests to various Government agencies, including the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and various offices in the Senate and the House of Representatives. Two meetings/roundtables with DTI officials were also rich sources of information, as well as various official issuances relevant to AEC.

Public Consultations and Information Strategy

Of the executive agencies, only the DA, through the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF), gave comprehensive information on the public consultations and information initiatives they had on AEC 2015. DFA and NEDA referred the information requests to DTI whom they identified as the agency tasked to conduct AEC consultations. While the DTI was able to release many relevant information, it was unable to give a list of consultation activities focused

specifically on AEC. Information on DOLE was gathered from its website. All other information are from secondary documents and internet research.Public consultations on AEC addressed three broad areas: fostering basic understanding of AEC commitments and how these may impact stakeholders; identifying needed interventions for the implementation of the commitments or for information campaign; and, providing spaces for stakeholders to discuss their own actions. Table 4 summarizes these activities.

The DA conducted 11 area-wide orientations on integration initiatives affecting agriculture and fisheries between July 2013 and April 2015, and discussed updates on AEC commitments and measures in place, stakeholder expectations and possible interventions; as well as the crafting of information, education and communication strategies for AEC.

DOLE had two workshops. One was on the Qualifications Framework for education services, which it co-hosted with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the Department of Education (DepEd), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), attended by participants from the co-hosting agencies, private academic institutions, professional associations, industry, training providers, and the labor sector. The other was a workshop to prepare for the ASEAN Forum on Migrant Labor.

Having previously identified the sugar industry as likely to be negatively affected by regional integration, DOLE has planned four regional island-cluster consultations in 2014-2015, to develop a human resource development strategy to address the sector’s vulnerabilities.

The DTI is supposed to be in-charge of trade-related consultations, but was unable to release a list of AEC-related meetings it conducted. As there were reports that such consultations have and do in fact take place, there can be two conjectures as to the lack of response from DTI: one, that there has not been any AEC-specific consultation, although there might be several pertaining generally to free trade agreements (FTAs); and two, record-keeping for such consultations had been poor.

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Table 4AEC Preparatory Activities of Relevant Government Agencies

Activity Date and Venue Objectives ParticipantsDepartment of Agriculture (DA)

Joint DA-Policy and Planning Group (DA-PPG) and PCAF Area Wide Orientations on the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) 2015: Focusing on Integration Initiatives Affecting the Agriculture and Fisheries Sectors

July 25, 2013DA Central Office - Orientation for DA Officials: BSWM Convention Hall, Quezon City

- Understand and appreciate the concept of the AEC;

- Update stakeholders of integration initiatives, particularly on agriculture and fisheries, commitments and measures already in place and expectations by 2015; and,

- Identify key interventions, gaps and the like in relation to the implementation of commitments.

Government Sector: 204 (Resource Persons, DA attached agencies/DA-RFOs Officials/staff*, Secretariat)

Private Sector: 251(Farmers/Growers/Fisherfolks; Industry Groups -Exporters/Importers/Processors; AFCs - RAFCs, PAFCs, MAFCs, CAFCs)

September 25-27, 2013Luzon A - CAR, I, II, III: PampangaSeptember 11-13, 2013Luzon B - IV-A, IV-B, V : CaviteNovember 13-15, 2013Visayas - VI, VII, VIII: Cebu CityNovember 6-8, 2013Mindanao A - IX, X, CARAGA: Cagayan de Oro CityNovember 27-29, 2013Mindanao B - XI, XII, ARMM: Davao City

Joint DA-Policy and Planning Group (DA-PPG) and PCAF Area Wide Seminar-Workshops on ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) 2015

September 29-30, 2014Luzon A - CAR, I, II, III: Pampanga

- Understand and appreciate the concept of the AEC;

- Update the concerned DA RFO officials and key personnel of integration initiatives, particularly on agriculture and fisheries, commitments and measures already in place and expectations by 2015; and

- Come-up with Information, Education and Communication (IEC) Plan/strategies to effectively inform the stakeholders on issues and preparatory activities re AEC (to be used by the concerned DA-RFO officials and staff in the information dissemination on AEC).

Those directly involved in information dissemination from each region: DA-RFO Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division Chiefs; DA-RFO Agricultural and Fishery Information Division Chiefs; DA-RFO Planning Officers; Regional Banner Program Coordinators for Corn, High Value Crops Development, and Livestock Program Coordinators; BFAR Regional Fisheries Quarantine Officers/Inspectors; NMIS Regional Information Officers; BAI Regional Quarantine Officers; BPI Regional Quarantine Officers; ATI Regional Information Officers; RAFC Coordinators

October 27-28, 2014Luzon B - IV-A, IV-B, V : Cavite

November 12-13, 2014Visayas - VI, VII, VIII: Cebu City

April 21-22, 2015Mindanao A, Cagayan de Mindanao A - IX, X, CARAGA: Cagayan de Oro City

December 8-9, 2014Mindanao B - XI, XII, ARMM: Davao City

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Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)*

Sectoral Approach on Education Services–Philippine Qualifications Framework (PQF) and the ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework (AQRF)

August 29, 2013Philippine Trade Training Center, Pasig, City

To prepare Filipino professionals, workers, learners, and industries for the 2015 ASEAN Economic Community by having a deeper understanding on the concept, principles, and processes of the PQF and ARQF, and their relationship towards recognition of qualifications within ASEAN regions.

Government – Task Force on AQRF: DTI, DOLE, TESDA, DepEd, CHED

Representatives from the labor sector, industries, training providers, academe, and professionals

Preparatory Workshop for the ASEAN Forum on Migrant Labor (AFML)

September 6, 2013Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel

The regional AFML was held on November 26-27, 2013 in Brunei Darussalam.

- To take stock and share information on the progress to date and implementation of previous forums’ recommendations at the national level; and

- To discuss the 6th AFML’s proposed theme; and (3) to prepare recommendations for the 6th AFML.

More than 50 participants from: government, employers, and workers organizations and civil society organization.

Participants included: ILO, POEA, TF-AMW, APL, ECOP, Scalabrini Migration Center, and LBS Recruitment Solutions, among others.

Consultations for Sugar Industry HRD Master Plan

Four, regional island-cluster consultation-workshops—one in Luzon, two in the Visayas, and one in Mindanao, 2014-2015

- To familiarize sugar industry stakeholders with the Sugar Industry Roadmap 2014-2016 developed by SRA, focused on industry productivity and competitiveness in an integrated ASEAN regional economy.

- To further DOLE efforts to mitigate the possible negative impact on the industry of the full implementation of AEC 2015.

- To craft and develop an HRD Master Plan to address all the concerns of the industry, and to prepare it for the AEC.

Not specified

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)**Co-funded the consultation on Education Services (see DOLE above)Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)***National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)***

Sources: Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF), communication with authors; DOLE website, http://dole.gov.phNote: Authors sent Freedom of Information requests to DA, DOLE, DTI and NEDA.*DOLE referred the authors to its website, and did not provide a list. The list above is based on the press releases found in the website.**DTI was helpful with information requests, but has yet to respond on the particular issue of AEC-related consultations. Requests have been made as early as late-2014, with the last follow-up done in August 2015.***DFA and NEDA referred the authors to DTI, saying it is the agency tasked with consultations.

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Several basic information materials on the AEC were produced. The DA (undated) did the eight-page primer Q&A on the ASEAN Economic Community, which elaborated on challenges beyond the scaling down of tariffs that agriculture faces in the AEC. The DTI produced two materials – the 24-page Understanding the ASEAN Economic Community: A Primer (March 2014), and its follow-up, the 16-page Understanding the ASEAN Economic Community: A Quick Guide (November 2014), both are part of the AEC Communication Toolkit. All these materials discussed the basics of AEC, with the DTI volumes providing more details on specific economic agreements, as well as the context for economic integration. In the second DTI publication, AEC is presented as both a goal and a journey, and hence “evolutionary, not revolutionary” (p. 6). The materials are written in English, and it is unclear whether there are versions translated into Filipino and other local languages.

Coordination Processes

In September 2011, President Aquino signed Administrative Order No. 20, reorganizing the Philippine Council on ASEAN and Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation/APEC (PCAAC) into the Philippine Council for Regional Cooperation (PCRC). It established four technical boards to handle ASEAN, APEC, Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC).

Three committees, one each for AEC, APSC, and ASSC, are under the ASEAN Matters Technical Board. The Committee for ASEAN Economic Community (CAEC) that is composed of the following government agencies and departments: DTI (chair), NEDA, DFA, Department of Finance, DA, Department of Tourism, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, DOLE, Department of Transportation and Communications, Department of Energy, Department of Science and Technology, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Board of Investments, Bureau of Customs, Presidential Management Staff, and Tariff Commission. As part of the PCRC, CAEC is supposed to take charge of coordination meetings, consultations with stakeholders, and capacity and resource enhancement.

While the CAEC serves as the coordinating mechanism for AEC matters, other bodies complement it. DOLE, for instance, issued Administrative Order No. 380 S. 2015, creating the DOLE Coordinating Committee for ASEAN Matters (DCCAM) to harmonize DOLE’s participation

in activities and commitments in preparation for the 2015 ASEAN Integration. DCCAM is composed of heads of various DOLE offices, bureaus, and attached agencies, and is chaired by an Undersecretary and co-chaired by an Assistant Secretary. It is tasked to propose policies, programs and projects in line with the implementation of ASEAN commitments, and has a specific working group on the AEC.

Other mechanisms are smaller inter-agency bodies concerned with a narrow or specific area. The Philippine Task Force on ASEAN Qualifications Reference Framework (AQRF) is a case in point. Composed of the PRC, DTI, DOLE, TESDA, DepEd and CHED, the Task Force develops qualifications requirements in support of the MRAs towards the mobility and competitiveness of Filipino professionals. These qualifications are then harmonized at the regional level. In line with this, professional boards work in parallel to address language and licensure examination issues, while some professional associations hold bilateral talks with their counterparts in other ASEAN countries.

A Broad Approach

The establishment of CAEC indicates the adoption of a whole-of-government approach (Christensen and Lægreid 2007), characterized by inter-agency coordination in the dispensation of AEC matters.

According to DTI, the Government has adopted the so-called 4C strategy for AEC –compliance with commitments; collaboration; communication; and support mechanisms. However, rather than a stand-alone strategy for the AEC, DTI works on the basis of unified trade and industry framework, linking trade with industrial and investment promotion policy. Specific mechanisms under this includes: the One Country, One Voice consultation process; the DBFTA, or doing business in FTAs consultations; the tariff and trade defense review (for FTA negotiations), to harmonize the tariff structures of raw inputs and final products, and to address trade negotiating agenda in three fronts (European Union-ASEAN FTA, ASEAN and Asia, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership). (AER-IP Team interview, September 15, 2014)

According to DTI, they see AEC 2015 as an opportunity to gain market access for Filipino firms, and a room for expansion given the bigger regional population. The Philippines is also seen as particularly benefitting from

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the labor mobility afforded by the AEC. Finally, regional economic integration is seen to provide the incentive to improve administrative processes and to work towards the lowering of costs for the movement of goods. However, three major challenges arise: intense competition from big foreign companies in the region; short-term adjustment costs; and, the volatility of the country’s SMEs. (AER-IP RTD, September 17, 2014)

To address these concerns, the Philippine government introduced a new industrial policy, supported by the Manufacturing Resurgence Program (MRP). It has four major elements: one, to deepen participation in global and regional production networks; two, the efficient use of existing capacities and expansion of the domestic market base; three, the removal of the obstacles to growth; and, four, investment in Human Resource Development (HRD), Innovation, SME Development, and Technology Upgrading. Government’s main role is to facilitate the proper environment for private sector development. Figure 1 illustrates the summary benchmarks for structural transformation of the country’s manufacturing sector. Note that the Roadmap is for 12 years. (AER-IP RTD, September 17, 2014)

To support the Roadmap, the government created the Industry Development Council (IDC). Its main functions are coordination, information sharing, monitoring, policy formulation, and roadmap implementation. IDC is composed of experts from the academe, economic and other national agencies, and the business sector. DTI currently oversees the formulation of manufacturing roadmaps and the detailed action plans that operationalize them. As of 2014, 14 technical working groups for various industries have been set up. (AER-IP RTD, September 17, 2014)

Figure 1

The actual functioning of the different mechanisms for and approaches to AEC has yet to be tested. Perhaps owing to its newness, the whole-of-government approach seems limited to facilitation activities, and has yet to incorporate substantive integrated planning and programming. The common apprehension of business and labor alike, and other segments of civil society, about the country’s preparedness for AEC 2015 is an indication of this approach’s yet limited success.

Assessment of Preparations

Business Perspective

For the business sector’s assessment of the state of the country’s readiness for AEC 2015, key information were obtained from executive directors of two major national business associations and of a regional business council. Box 1 also provides a quick scan of other business views on specific issues as reported in various publications.

For the Makati Business Club (MBC) and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) (these groups are involved in APEC and ASEAN Business Advisory Councils, respectively), whatever the impact of integration is, the country already felt it, or is already feeling it. Because tariffs are already quite low, any further liberalization will not have the same impact as the original tariff cuts of say, 20 years ago. Further, big businesses, the “big boys”, will be able to compete and look after themselves. However, majority of their members are SMEs and there lies the problem – they will be the ones most affected. (AER-IP Team interviews, January 7, 2015 and March 2, 2015)

An Executive Outlook survey conducted by the MBC found that larger corporations see integration as an opportunity. But for the 90% of registered MBC members, all of which are SMEs, anxiety runs high. While optimistic about free trade, MBC is less sure about whether the Philippines is able to fully reap the benefits from it. At the moment, it sees Government as weak in identifying and nurturing what it can offer outside human resources to other countries. It is supportive of the industry roadmap process, but sees as a challenge to the Government’s capacity to ensure that incentives and opportunities are given to deserving industries. MBC is rather critical of the poor execution of Government’s consultation efforts on AEC. It also recommends that issues on legality Source: Aldaba (2014)

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and the resistance of professional associations need to be resolved to respond to the country’s need for professional, and not just skilled workers. (AER-IP interview, January 7, 2015)

PCCI shares MBC’s sentiments about the readiness of big companies, and the volatility of SMEs. For them, non-tariff barriers are the biggest constraints for SMEs. High power costs, the complicated business processes, and poor infrastructure are challenges for them. PCCI likewise agrees with MBC on the issue of hiring professionals, and the industry roadmaps. (AER-IP interview, January 14, 2015)

The ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ABAC), created by ASEAN Leaders in 2003 to monitor business feedback on integration issues, currently focuses on SMEs and youth entrepreneurship. Despite throwing it full support for AEC 2015, it enumerates several problems faced by the regional initiative. These are: inclusivity, sustainable growth, the identification sector can put the region in a higher value chain, non-tariff barriers, and absence of links with the unions (AER-IP Team interview, March 2, 2015). This view on labor-business relations is shared by PCCI, although they admit that they have not exerted any effort to address the issue (AER-IP Team interview, January 14, 2014).

The views of business are consistent and imply that the main problems they face now have remained the same in the past 20-30 years. These are structural problems that have not been given any meaningful solutions. This is relevant when aiming for inclusion in the regional and global value chain. SMEs at particularly low levels cannot expect to be able to insert themselves in this value chain. This is why, despite the relative growth in the country’s export performance in recent years, export receipts still pale in comparison to the country’s remittance earnings, totaling only a little over half of personal remittance receipts.

Insights from Labor and Civil Society Groups

The following are based on the results of a Focus Group Discussion with labor, migrants’ rights, and civil society groups. The general mood among the FGD participants was skeptical, pointing to various weaknesses in how the Government handles AEC matters (AER-IP Team FGD, March 9, 2015):

- The “Made in ASEAN” packaging is detrimental as it causes difficulty in

tracking the source of the product on the assembly line, making the entire process less transparent.

- The One Country, One Voice consultations are unable to fully allow participation, because they are handled by DTI who also manages business trainings. The consultations, therefore, become clinics on how to use different FTA instruments, aimed at business, and fail to solicit the concerns of workers.o Likewise, DTI and NEDA are supposed

to be managing the consultations. Hence, DOLE does not have the documents used or produced by these consultations.

- No references are made in ASEAN documents on workers’ or unions’ rights. This is tantamount to an assault on labor standards.

- The AEC is likely to produce further brain drain in professional services, especially since security of tenure is not protected in the country.

- The rights and privileges of workers are also a concern especially when they choose to work abroad. Displacement of teachers due to K-12 was also brought up.

- A main concern is the fact that agreements in AEC do not cover low-skilled, domestic, and undocumented workers. o The negotiations on the protective

instrument for migrant workers has dragged on, having reached only 85% completion even after eight years of debate.

- There is a question of who represents the labor sector in the AEC negotiations. This has an impact on forwarding workers’ interests, but as far as existing information goes, there is no involvement of unions and workers’ groups.

- There is need for social impact assessments (SIAs) on at least three

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sectors: intellectual property rights (IPR) and public health; labor; and, small-scale fisheries. A previous commitment by DTI, secured during a dialogue with them, to do SIAs and a study on dispute settlement, has not been delivered on, more than a year after the dialogue.

Similar and related sentiments have been expressed in other fora (FSSI and UN-CSAC Forum, June 30, 2015):

- Basic sectors lack representation in AEC, particularly farmers (there is existing advocacy for an Agriculture Advisory Council), workers, and women.

- This lack of representation stems from the marginalized position of unionism and the women’s agenda.• There had been massive weakening

of unions in all but one or two ASEAN countries.

- There are fears over how open the economy will be to foreign investors once AEC is put in place.• This is related to the impact such

openness will have on unions and social protection.

- There is apprehension about ASEAN’s dependence on consensus for decision-making.

- Much remains to be done in terms of promoting partnerships among primary producers and social entrepreneurs and managers, and resource pooling.• This is to be able to develop

community enterprises, and counter the pressures from big investors.

Conclusion: Asking the Right Question

“Is the Philippines ready for the ASEAN Economic Community?” is, for many reasons, a poor question to ask.

The relevant question lies both on what we should do, and what have been done.

As pointed out by the business groups, ASEAN has been trying to integrate for a long time. From the ASEAN Preferential Trade Agreement in the 1980s, it moved on to AFTA in the 1990s, and now to the many other economic agreements that now constitute the basis for the AEC. ASEAN Members had to face bigger and broader initiatives and challenges, foremost of which was the World Trade Organization. Today, ASEAN member countries, including the Philippines, have negotiated and signed bilateral deals in trade and investments, as well as extended to either ASEAN plus or ASEAN-X.

The full rollout of the ASEAN Economic Community by the end of this year is, therefore, not the beginning, but rather the culmination of many overlapping agreements that ASEAN has tried to nurture over the years, and consolidated in the past less than a decade. The question of preparation or readiness therefore does not pertain to the starting line, but more like the way to the finish.

One of the come-ons for AEC is its potential to be a battering ram for reforms, to address the structural problems of the economy. However, what seems to be overlooked was the fact that these reforms were supposed to be targeted during the earlier waves of liberalization, too. And yet, they were either slowly or never implemented, or implemented but produced results contrary to expectations.

In a similar vein, the vulnerable crops, groups or sectors have remained the same. In 2014, both DA and DOLE claimed that the sugar industry would be among the most badly hit by AEC 2015. Yet, it should be remembered that, along with rice and corn, this same fear was raised during the WTO debates more than 20 years ago. Sugar, rice and corn still face the same instabilities as before.

The country is placed to benefit from the expected increased labor mobility in the region, and be a net gainer in some sectors, particularly services. However, it cannot afford to embark on another ambitious initiative just on the promise of these advantages alone. It has to be emphasized that agriculture and industry (particularly certain sections of manufacturing), sectors most negatively affected by previous liberalization processes, continue to face great challenge.

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The bigger and better question to ask is on how to address structural weaknesses in the economy and move forward, beyond the trade/economic agreement. That is, what enduring interventions are needed, and how should they be reflected in all aspects of policymaking – national, bilateral, regional and international?

What the country plans to do in ASEAN has to be a well-rounded endeavor. It cannot be simply to increase the size of the market that it can tap, and hence expand growth opportunities. It has to be mindful of job-killing growth, and wealth creation that is captured by a small elite. To have broad benefits, to be inclusive, how the Philippines steers its economy and prepare its people matter.

Industrial Policy (IP) will make an impact. This entails: the redeployment of capital to particular sectors; the setting up of explicit sectoral priorities, targets and interventions; the development of clear parameters/guidelines for choices; and, the establishment of institutional infrastructure. It also comes with the challenge of building consensus and the cultivation of a constituency for IP. There is need to test these ideas, to localize them, and to distill lessons from these experiments.

The DTI’s efforts to address the structural constraints should be supported. Its internal restructuring and reorganization, so that it can link trade policy and investment promotion better: the MRP that seeks to revive the manufacturing sector by facilitating

coordination among different industry groups; and innovations like shared services and incubation facilities to address some R&D bottlenecks, are long overdue. However, there is much disjoint and lack of coordination in these initiatives. While trade and investment promotion are being integrated by DTI, it is nonetheless not privy to what is happening in agriculture and services. And despite the importance of electric power and energy to manufacturing, the DTI is unable to talk about these issues, and have little common program with energy authorities. This lack of coordination is repeated across the different government departments, raising concerns that the country is forging ahead with regional integration, while it has yet to fully integrate its planning and programs nationally.

The Government’s strategy for AEC, its game plan, using a whole-of-government approach is good news, but it has to be tested against the actual effectiveness of such inter-agency coordination.

Finally, ASEAN integration is not just the AEC. It has three pillars – economic, political-security, and socio-cultural. Yet, these pillars hardly interact. This lack of interaction, this disconnect among the different initiatives, is a reminder of how not to do the country’s AEC game plan. Ideally, initiatives designed for AEC should have strong linkages to the political-security and socio-cultural dimensions. This will ensure not only a greater resonance with target stakeholders, but will make even more meaningful the idea of a regional community.

Box 1: A Quick Scan of Business Outlook on ASEAN

Companies surveyed by the American Chamber of Commerce are optimistic about ASEAN regional integra-tion, but are skeptical about the AEC goals being met by the end of 2015 or even 2020. As a result, only 51% has a strategy for AEC. The rest are still in the process of developing a strategy, or are just concentrating on a single ASEAN country, or are doubtful of AEC’s timeline and feasibility. However, they find important and they use existing ASEAN free trade agreements (such as with Australia and New Zealand). (ASEAN Business Outlook Survey 2015 and 2016)

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry believes that the Philippines is not yet ready for the AEC. It believes that crucial elements necessary for efficient trade and investment facilitation – like an efficient transport system, adequate and cost-competitive fuel and electricity, airports and seaport to accommodate the increase in foreign tourists and trade, and stronger financing schemes for SMEs to help them level off with their ASEAN counterparts – have yet to be addressed. (Torres, 2013)

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According to the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), the country can successfully inte-grate with its ASEAN neighbors, but the progress will be uneven across industries. They see the tourism sector as ready, but not the manufacturing and education sectors. MAP is apprehensive about the lack of political will to implement reforms for industry, and the newness of the K+12 program which might not be able to prepare graduates for 2015. (Ordinario, 2013)

The Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (PHILEXPORT) rues that the DTI does not have enough fund-ing to implement export promotion, a handicap if the country wants to keep up with AEC. (Ordinario, 2013)

According to Mr. Manuel Pangilinan, the country’s sugar industry is not competitive with countries like Thailand, whose cost is lower due to the availability of more capable mills and higher yields. The sugar industry is therefore vulnerable in the AEC. (Ordinario, 2013)

Construction firm EEI Corporation believes that ACIA will liberalize most barriers to the industry. This will attract investors into the region, which it sees as positive for construction firms like them. (Magkilat, 2014)

The Yao Group of Companies eyes an ASEAN expansion for its ready-to-drink Zesto and RC Cola brands. It will start buying existing operations and putting up manufacturing plants in Thailand, Indonesia, and Myanmar. (Magkilat, 2014)

For the Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC), AEC will trigger lower prices of goods which would benefit the consumers, but which could harm certain sectors like farmers and entrepreneurs. JFC believes that sugar and rice producers will be most affected as prices of these goods are cheaper in other countries like Indo-nesia. (Rappler, 2014)

The Philippine Automotive Competitiveness Council, Inc. (PACCI) says that the Philippines does not have strong backward linkages in, or supply chain supporting, the manufacturing sector, making it difficult to reap the full benefits of having a single ASEAN market. (Rappler, 2014)

The Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. (PAMPI) emphasizes that they need the support of the government and the livestock sector in terms of policies and stable supply of raw materials. They claim that meat processors are ready for AEC because their current systems, technologies and manufac-turing processes are at par with international standards, but they need dependable and stable supply of high-quality inputs. (Magkilat, 2014)

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas asserts that local banks are competitive and need not fear of being eaten up by bigger regional banks. Yet BDO Unibank Inc., the country’s largest commercial bank, claims the op-posite. It says that banks face Constitutional constraints in making full use of MRAS, but at the same time seeks protective-policy mechanisms from the government. (Magkilat, 2014)

The Hongkong Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) claims that the integration of Southeast Asian economies would help sustain the 67 consecutive quarters of economic expansion in the Philippines. It claims that integration removes internal barriers to business growth and wealth creation. HSBC particularly mentions the Outsourcing, Banking and Tourism industries to benefit well from it. (Ag-caoili, 2015)

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Protocol to Amend The ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services. September 2, 2003. Available: http://www.moit.gov.vn/Images/documents/633-12.AFAS_Amendment_Protocol.pdf

Declaration of ASEAN Concord II (Bali Concord II). October 7, 2003. Available: http://www.asean.org/news/asean-statement-communiques/item/declaration-of-asean-concord-ii-bali-concord-ii-3

Cebu Declaration on the Acceleration of the Establishment of an ASEAN Community by 2015. January 13, 2007. Available: http://www.asean.org/component/zoo/item/about-asean-overview-cebu-declaration-on-the-acceleration-of-the-establishment-of-an-asean-community-by-2015?Itemid=185

Declaration on the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint. November 20, 2007. Available: http://www.asean.org/news/item/declaration-on-the-asean-economic-community-blueprint

ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement. February 26, 2009. Available: http://www.scribd.com/doc/130983337/ASEAN-Comprehensive-Investment-Agreement

ASEAN Agreement on the Movement of Natural Person. November 19, 2012. Available:http://agreement.asean.org/media/download/20140117162554.pdf

Kuala Lumpur Declaration on ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together. November 22, 2015. Available: http://www.asean.org/images/2015/November/KL-Declaration/KL%20Declaration%20on%20ASEAN%202025%20Forging%20Ahead%20Together.pdf

Philippine Government Documents and Issuances

Administrative Order No. 20, s. 2011: Reorganizing and Renaming the Philippine Council on ASEAN and APEC Cooperation into the Philippine Council for Regional Cooperation. Signed, September 6, 2011. Available: http://www.gov.ph/2011/09/06/administrative-order-no-20-s-2011/

DA – Department of Agriculture. Q&A on the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). 8 pp. (undated.)

DTI – Department of Trade and Industry. (2014a) Understanding the AEC: A Primer. 24 pp. Available: http://www.philexport.ph/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=c514c915-c5c5-4217-9981-1b78c86c7fe6&groupId=127524

DTI. (2014b). Understanding the AEC: A Quick Guide. 16 pp. Available: http://www.dti.gov.ph/emb/images/dbfta/flyers/AEC_Quick_Guide1.pdf

Websites

DOLE – Department of Labor and Employment: http://dole.gov.ph

WB – World Bank Data: http://data.worldbank.org/

Interviews and Personal Communication

Freedom of Information (FOI) Requests Department of Agriculture, July 9, 2015. Department of Labor and Employment, July 28, 2015. Department of Trade and Industry, January 30, 2015. House of Representatives, September 3, 2014.

Ceferino Rodolfo, DTI Assistant Secretary, interview, September 15, 2014, Makati City

Crisanto S. Frianeza, PCCI Secretary-General, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), interview, January 14, 2015, Taguig City

Peter Perfecto, Makati Business Club (MBC), January 7, 2015, 2nd Floor, Makati City

Alexander Chandra, Executive Director of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ABAC) – Secretariat, Skype interview, March 2, 2015

Roundtables, Focus Groups and Forums

“Broad Perspectives on Industrial Policy”, with Assistant Secretary Rafaelita Aldaba and the DTI Roadmap Team. Organized by the AER-IP Team, September 17, 2014, 9 a.m.-12 n.n., Balay Kalinaw, UP Diliman, Quezon City.

“The State of Preparedness for the AEC”. Organized by the AER-IP Team, March 9, 2015, 2-5 p.m., Room 201, SOLAIR, UP Diliman, Diliman, Quezon City.

“Forum on ASEAN Integration”. Organized by FSSI and UN-CSAC, June 30, 2015 9 a.m.-1 p.m., PRRM Conrado Benitez Hall, #56 Mother Ignacia, Quezon City.

20

Context of the Information Need

The AER Industrial Policy Program led by the AER - Industrial Policy Team (AER-IP Team) aims to contribute to the development of a policy agenda to address weaknesses in the country’s industrial outcomes. The objective of this initiative is to present an accurate and comprehensive picture of the state of industry and employment in the country, and what this means for people’s lives and future challenges.

The AER-IP Team believes that an industrial policy will play a crucial role in facilitating the upgrading and transformation of more productive sectors, in the process creating better quality jobs for Filipinos presently excluded from the narrow base of the country’s economic growth.

Through basic research and analysis, roundtable discussions and key informant interviews, the AER-IP Team seeks to test specific ideas on industrial policy and gauge various groups’ openness to them. Overall, the team believes that a constituency for industrial policy can be developed, particularly within the labor sector and segments of industry that see broader and more integrated economic sectors as a means for industrial deepening and commercial growth.

To be sure, there had been efforts by government agencies to address industrial policy concerns. The Department of Trade and Industry, for instance, has embarked on an internal restructuring and reorganization, so that they can link trade policy and investment promotion better. It has also, since more than three years ago, spearheaded a Manufacturing Roadmap process that seeks to revive the manufacturing sector by facilitating coordination among different industry groups. The AER-IP Team seeks to constructively engage the Government’s Manufacturing Roadmap process, and sees the need to cultivate relations, exchange perspectives, and find

common ground with the sections of government that may be open to Industrial Policy.

In addition, there had been innovative measures like the shared services and incubation facilities to address some research and development bottlenecks, also by DTI. However, there remains much disjoint and lack of coordination in these initiatives. While trade and investment promotion are being integrated by DTI, it is not privy to what is happening in agriculture and services. And while electricity is a big input of manufacturing, it is unable to talk about the issue of electric power and energy.

Such lack of coordination is repeated across the different government departments. This then raises serious concerns about government’s readiness for ASEAN Economic Community 2015 (AEC 2015).

The Philippines is a member of ASEAN that groups it with nine other countries in the subregion: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. In 2007 ASEAN ratified the ASEAN Charter which codified its ways of doing things. In the same year, it signed the AEC Blueprint. Together with the Political-Security Community and the Socio-Cultural Community, the AEC completes the three pillars of ASEAN integration.

The AEC vision talks about a stable, prosperous, and highly competitive region, with equitable economic development, and reduced poverty and economic disparities. Its goal is to hasten complete liberalization and opening up of the regional economy. It aims to establish ASEAN as a Single Market and Production base, towards developing ASEAN as a competitive economic region. The AEC Blueprint is an ambitious program with set timelines and benchmarks. The goal is complete liberalization and opening up in goods, services,

FOI Practice:Accessing Information to Look Into the Country’s Preparedness for AEC 2015

by

Jenina Joy Chavez and Arjay MercadoAER - Industrial Policy Team

21

investment and skilled labour, and less restrictions in capital flows by end 2015. There are flexibilities, exceptions and restrictions (especially in the flow of money and capital) for newer ASEAN Members; and participation in economic initiatives may be done through the ASEAN Minus X formula, or the practice by which Member Countries not yet ready to join an economic agreement may opt not to do so. However, the strategic goal and commitment is to remove all these restrictions and exceptions, and for all Members to have the same commitments.

A good industrial policy must be responsive to contexts, including the international environment and the various agreements that the country has signed on to. These have implications on flexibility by which the government can tap various policy instruments.

The context of AEC 2015 is therefore an essential element in the study of industrial policy. Not only does it define what specific commitments the Philippines has in various economic sectors, it also has implications on the various economic actors that can provide constituent support for an industrial policy.

The AER-IP Team, therefore, finds it relevant to look into the country’s state of preparedness for AEC 2015. Among other things, we wish to highlight specific implications on the following: (1) identified winners or losers, if any, as per Government’s projection, and how industries react to such projections; and, (2) the likely impact on labor and employment.

Specific Information Needs

Responding to the need to look into the country’s preparedness for AEC 2015, the AER-IP Team is working on a policy paper intended to be a basic resource on AEC 2015. It aims to provide accessible reading and analysis of Philippine commitments and actions under the AEC, as well as the perspectives of various stakeholders. It aims to collate different studies and analyses already published, and to abstract major themes, lessons and perspectives embodied in these materials. Its distinct contribution is in organizing these materials, as well as providing a structure for analysis rooted in AER’s industrial policy framework.

For the policy research to be successful, the AER-IP Team needed access to the following classes of information:

• The specific commitments and their status (complied with and to what extent) made on AEC 2015;

• The preparations done by Philippine Government for AEC 2015, including congressional hearings, executive and administrative issuances, and specific programs to reach out to affected sectors;

• The specific studies carried out or commissioned by Government evaluating the impact of AEC 2015; and,

• The list of agencies and focal persons involved in AEC 2015 matters.

The commitments are basic information against which the preparedness of the country can be assessed. The assessment studies, in turn, indicate how seriously the Government has considered these commitments and their impacts. These can then be evaluated against the actual programs and activities the Government initiated to address emerging issues and concerns. The list of agencies and focal persons, for its part, represents the institutional infrastructure for the country’s integration into the AEC 2015.

Access to Information Experience

The AER - IP Team requested information from five executive agencies (the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Agriculture, Department of Labor and Employment, and the National Economic and Development Authority); three Congressional Committees at the House of Representatives (Foreign Affairs, Trade and Industry, and Economic Affairs); and offices of a number of members of the House of Representatives. (See Table 5: AER-IP Team FOI Request Log)

Specifically, the team requested the following classes of information:

1. Specific commitments and their status • From the Department of Trade and

Industry (DTI): List and status of the Philippines’ AEC commitments (i.e. complied with, outstanding); List and status of implementation of completed mutual recognition arrangements (MRAs); List and status of on-going MRA negotiations

• From the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA): Status of the Philippines’ AEC commitments (i.e. complied with, outstanding)

• From the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA): List and status of commitments made by the

22

Philippines to the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS); List and status of commitments made by the Philippines on investments, as specific in the AEC 2015 Priority Actions

2. Preparations done by Philippine Government

• From the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI, 2 different offices): List of programs (consultations, etc.) to prepare industry and workers for AEC 2015; Framework document for choos-ing sector/industry; Template for re-gional roadmaps; Documents on the EPG meeting/s; Manufacturing Resur-gence Plan

• From the National Economic and Devel-opment Authority (NEDA): List of pro-grams (consultations, etc.) undertaken and/or planned for the preparation of potentially affected industries and workers

• From the Department of Agriculture (DA): List of consultations conducted on AEC 2015

• From the Department of Labor and Em-ployment (DOLE): List of consultations conducted on AEC 2015

• From the House of Representatives: House Resolutions relevant to AEC 2015 matters; minutes of meetings of committee hearings discussing these resolutions; minutes and presentations of resource persons during briefings on AEC

3. Studies carried out or commissioned by Government evaluating the impact of AEC 2015

• From the Department of Trade and In-dustry (DTI): List and copies of complet-ed and on-going impact studies related to AEC 2015; Assessment Paper on in-dustry preparedness for 2015

• From the National Economic and Devel-opment Authority (NEDA): List and cop-ies of completed and on-going impact studies related to these commitments.

4. List of agencies and focal persons involved in AEC 2015 matters, requested from DTI and DFA.

In making the requests, following-up and documenting the response, the AER-IP Team used the template and log-sheet developed by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) and the Institute for Freedom of Information.

The requests were initiated in batches. The first batch was made in August 2014, covering DTI and DFA. The second batch was sent in September 2014 to different committees and offices of the House of Representatives. The third batch was sent to NEDA in October 2014. A follow-up batch of requests was made in July 2015, to cover the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Labor and Employment, based on information obtained from earlier requests from other agencies.

In all, the team sent 12 initial requests in writing that were sent by fax and email to relevant offices. The requests made to individual legislators, however, were made orally by telephone calls. The initial requests made in writing were immediately followed by telephone calls to confirm that the letters and emails were received.

The IP Team had mixed experience in terms of government response and handling of requests.

All the offices entertained the queries. While most of the agencies made information releases, two offices, the DFA and the House Committee on Trade and Industry, did not. The DFA, which is the main agency tasked with ASEAN matters, failed to give any documents, and instead referred the team to the DTI. One agency, the Department of Labor and Employment, still has an active initial request for which we are awaiting results.

Of the agencies/offices that released the information, one office under the DTI, the Department of Agriculture, and all the individual legislators offices released the documents requested.

The remaining offices that released information did so only partially.

One of the offices under the DTI released partial documents, although interestingly, it offered to meet

23

the IP Team to brief it on the DTI’s framework and initiatives on the AEC. The meeting took place ahead of the release of the requested documents. After the meeting, a number of documents discussed during the meeting were released after follow-up. For the other documents still not released, the team continues to follow up on them to this day.

NEDA gave information related to the country’s commitments to the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS 8, but not 9 and 10 which it said were not available yet as they are under negotiation) and the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement. It referred the team to several websites for relevant studies on AEC impact (four from a NEDA attached agency, the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, and three from foreign or international research institutions discussing not just the Philippines).

The team sent similar requests to the House Committees on Economic Affairs, and Trade and Industry, that conducted hearings and held briefings on AEC jointly. The Committee on Trade and Industry referred the team to Economic Affairs, which gave all but one of the documents.

Documents from executive agencies were released through email, while most documents from the House of Representatives were released in hard copy.

Among the agencies that made full or partial release, we experienced a wide divergence in the time of response.

The DA and one office under the DTI were bright spots. For DA, the team received all the requested documents by email after six days from the sending of request, without need of a follow-up letter or telephone call. In addition, they invited the team to be part of the NGOs that they consult on ASEAN and trade matters. For one office under DTI, the team received all documents requested by email five days from sending of request, and after one follow-up telephone call. An important factor, however, was that the request came after a roundtable discussion with the official overseeing the program related to the information request, and a commitment made during the roundtable discussion to provide the documents. We can also include in the bright spots a number of offices of members of Congress, that promptly gave the requested documents.

The other agencies that provided relatively quick responses -- DFA (four days), a division under NEDA (2 days), and the House Committee on Trade and

Industry -- did not involve release of documents but were instead referrals to other offices.

Outside of these quick responses, all other release of documents took much longer periods of time. For one of the DTI offices, this involved 42 and 38 days for two separate requests, and an active request still not responded to for 136 days running as of August 10, 2015, with repeated telephone calls to follow up all requests. We also note that the Makati Business Club sent a parallel request to DTI by email, that was not responded to at all. For the two committees of the House of Representatives, this involved 31 and 59 days, respectively, with follow-up calls as well. For the NEDA office it involved 36 days, with 13 follow-up telephone calls. For DOLE, the request remains active without a definitive response as yet.

Other observations from the experience include:• There were two instances of initial request

letters lost by the agency, needing a resending of the request.

• There were instances when approval or clearance from higher officers needed to be secured before the documents were released.

• Having prior requests did not guarantee a smoother response for subsequent requests. For example, the third request to the same DTI office did not get a responsive result.

Utilization of Accessed Information

The documents obtained, and the meeting secured as a result of the FOI request, helped the IP Team make an assessment of the country’s state of preparedness for AEC 2015. For instance, the team was able to see the differences in meanings attached to “preparedness”. For Government, it has to do with (1) initiatives to complete pending obligations as per the work program of AEC 2015, and, (2) specific implementation initiatives to operationalize these commitments.

Such preparations only cover government compliance, and not the preparations necessary to support such commitments, i.e., preparing in-country industry groups and constituents for the eventual rollout of the AEC 2015. This was validated in key informant interviews with business and in the focus group discussion with labor.

Further, the DA documents show that the preparation, through consultations and seminar-workshops,

24

focuses on information sharing about what the AEC is and provides space for stakeholders to ask clarificatory questions. There was little beyond information sharing. The meeting with DTI indicated that some of its consultations focus on capacity building, such as training the business sector on how to make use of concessions and processes under various free trade agreements. However, since no official documentation has been released, it is yet unclear how many such activities were done for AEC, as well as their scope and reach.

The NEDA documents were important to lay bare the new frontiers of economic agreements, namely services and investments. AFAS 8 maintains the constitutional barriers, but the non-release of information related to AFAS 9 and 10 (the government framework or the final commitments) raised concern about what might the new commitments entail.

The uneven experience with access to information, however, resulted in data gaps. Unlike the DA which released detailed information (including a description of participants, a list of resource persons, the content of the activities, and the corresponding programs identified as responses to problems and concerns raised) on the series of consultations it undertook, the DTI and DOLE were unable to release similar information. The team’s impression is that this could be due to the absence of a specific unit coordinating and/or monitoring such activities, and therefore, records were not properly kept or centralized.

Finally, the delays and/or the eventual non-release of requested information set back the research in terms of timely release, and affected potential related advocacy. Effective advocacy should be based on prior preparation, including research and analysis. The ability to identify specific reforms to advocate is hinged on the ability to accurately describe the current state of affairs and ascertain problem areas. All this depends on timely access to quality information. Insights from the FOI Practice Experience

The quality and effectiveness of research, policy analysis and advocacy depend a great deal on being able to access relevant government information. For this exercise, this includes documents relating to binding commitments of government, programs, consultations conducted, minutes of meetings or hearings by legislative bodies, official papers presented, and so on.

Governments generally responded to the team’s requests. However, the process and quality of response is uneven across agencies. The few bright spots are overshadowed by a combination of unresponsiveness, long periods of time needed to respond, the need for numerous follow-up, lack of records, incomplete release, and so on.

These realities on the ground render the constitutional right to information ineffective and not uniformly observed in practice. We can surmise that the experience can be more challenging for ordinary citizens asserting their right to information.

Based on our experience, we do not ascribe bad faith to the agency personnel. Some agencies that provided only partial disclosure have even taken time to meet the team to make their presentations and answer queries.

The experience confirms the gaps that the FOI Bill pending in Congress intends to address: the lack of uniform and definite procedure for accessing information; the need for certainty of scope of accessible information and exceptions, to prevent the tedious need for case-by-case clearance or approval from higher officers; and the need for basic standards in record keeping. The provision of administrative (and even criminal) liability for certain acts and omissions relating to access to information will also provide deterrence against non-compliance.

In all, the provisions of the FOI bill will provide the impetus for agencies to seriously address the administrative requirements for adequate compliance with the constitutional right to information. To be sure this will require resources to address personnel needs, improve administrative systems, and upgrade agency training and capacity. These will take time to evolve, but the process needs to commence to be able to widen the bright spots on access to information.

In the continued absence of an FOI law, FOI Practice offers both a challenge and opportunity. In this practice exercise, we confined ourselves to the request process phase only, with the end-point being the ultimate response to the request, whether this be access or non-access to the requested document. The FOI Practice can start to extend beyond the request phase to include interventions to affirm good practices, improve deficient ones, and change norms in favor of effective access. We recommend that the FOI Practice initiative be expanded towards this direction.

25

Tabl

e 5

AER-

IP T

eam

FO

I Req

uest

Log

Re

port

as o

f Aug

ust 2

015

Gov

ernm

ent A

genc

yDa

te o

f Ini

tial R

eque

st/

Docu

men

ts R

eque

sted

No.

of F

ollo

w-u

p Le

tter

s/Ca

lls/

Emai

ls

No.

of W

orki

ng

Days

for

Resp

onse

Nat

ure

of R

espo

nse

Rem

arks

Depa

rtm

ent o

f For

eign

Aff

airs

Augu

st, 2

8, 2

014

- List

of a

genc

ies a

nd

poin

t per

sons

invo

lved

in

AEC

2015

matt

ers f

or th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

,- S

tatu

s of t

he P

hilip

pine

s’

AEC

com

mitm

ents

(i.e

. co

mpl

ied

with

, out

stan

ding

)

2 ca

lls a

nd 1

lette

r4

Refe

rral

to D

TI- T

he fo

llow

-up

lette

r is a

rese

ndin

g of

th

e in

itial

requ

est b

ecau

se D

FA lo

st it

in

our fi

rst s

endi

ng- W

hile

DTI

hol

ds in

form

ation

on

ASEA

N m

atter

s, it

is u

nkno

wn

why

DF

A, th

e de

part

men

t in-

char

ge o

f AS

EAN

rela

tions

, was

n’t a

ble

to p

rovi

de

docu

men

ts re

gard

ing

the

stru

ctur

e of

th

e bo

dy d

ealin

g w

ith A

SEAN

affa

irs.

Depa

rtm

ent o

f Tra

de

and

Indu

stry

Augu

st 2

8, 2

014

(IDTP

G/AS

ec O

ffice

)- L

ist o

f age

ncie

s and

po

int p

erso

ns in

volv

ed in

AE

C 20

15 m

atter

s for

the

Phili

ppin

es- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of

the

Phili

ppin

es’ A

EC

com

mitm

ents

(i.e

. com

plie

d w

ith, o

utst

andi

ng)

- List

of p

rogr

ams

(con

sulta

tions

, etc

.) to

pr

epar

e in

dust

ry a

nd

wor

kers

for A

EC 2

015

- List

and

cop

ies o

f co

mpl

eted

and

on-

goin

g im

pact

stud

ies r

elat

ed to

AE

C 20

15- A

sses

smen

t Pap

er o

n in

dust

ry p

repa

redn

ess f

or

2015

- List

and

stat

us o

f im

plem

enta

tion

of

com

plet

ed m

utua

l re

cogn

ition

arr

ange

men

ts

(MRA

s)- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of o

n-go

ing

MRA

neg

otiati

ons

8 ca

lls a

nd 1

lette

r42

Rece

ived

par

tial

docu

men

ts v

ia e

mai

l in

clud

ing:

- List

of a

genc

ies a

nd

poin

t per

sons

invo

lved

in

AEC

2015

matt

ers f

or th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

- List

of p

rogr

ams t

o pr

epar

e in

dust

ry a

nd

wor

kers

for A

EC 2

015

- List

and

cop

ies o

f co

mpl

eted

and

on-

goin

g im

pact

stud

ies r

elat

ed to

AE

C 20

15As

sess

men

t Pap

er o

n in

dust

ry p

repa

redn

ess f

or

2015

- DTI

invi

ted

us in

a m

eetin

g w

ith A

Sec.

Pe

rry

Rodo

lfo la

st S

epte

mbe

r 15,

201

4 (1

2 w

orki

ng d

ays a

fter i

nitia

l req

uest

). In

the

mee

ting,

they

pre

sent

ed a

PPT

w

here

som

e of

the

info

rmati

on w

e ne

eded

wer

e sh

own.

- The

info

rmati

on w

e re

ceiv

ed c

omes

in

the

form

of t

he P

PT p

rese

nted

dur

ing

the

mee

ting.

- For

the

list o

f age

ncie

s and

poi

nt

pers

ons,

they

ask

ed u

s to

find

AO 2

0,

whi

ch is

eas

ily a

cces

sed

in th

e in

tern

et.

- Afte

r the

initi

al m

eetin

g, th

e re

ceip

t of

the

PPT

was

qui

te lo

ng d

ue to

reas

ons

that

incl

ude

wai

ting

for a

ppro

val o

f the

hi

gher

-ups

in th

eir o

ffice

. Afte

r we

sent

a

follo

w-u

p le

tter,

we

imm

edia

tely

got

th

e PP

T.

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(IDTP

G/AS

ec O

ffice

)- L

ist o

f age

ncie

s and

po

int p

erso

ns in

volv

ed in

AE

C 20

15 m

atter

s for

the

Phili

ppin

es- S

tatu

s of t

he P

hilip

pine

s’

AEC

com

mitm

ents

(i.e

. co

mpl

ied

with

, out

stan

ding

)

7 ca

lls a

nd 1

fo

llow

-up

lette

r38

Rece

ived

par

tial

docu

men

ts v

ia e

mai

l in

clud

ing:

- List

of a

genc

ies a

nd

poin

t per

sons

invo

lved

in

AEC

2015

matt

ers f

or th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

- Thi

s is a

refe

rral

from

ear

lier r

eque

st to

DF

A.- T

he fo

llow

-up

lette

r her

e is

the

sam

e as

that

in A

ugus

t 28

(we

mer

ged

the

requ

ests

alre

ady)

.- A

s for

oth

er re

mar

ks, p

erta

in to

the

resu

lts fr

om th

e Au

gust

28

requ

est.

Oct

ober

29,

201

4 (B

oard

of

Inve

stm

ent)

- Fra

mew

ork

docu

men

t for

ch

oosin

g se

ctor

/indu

stry

- Tem

plat

e fo

r reg

iona

l ro

adm

aps

- Doc

umen

ts o

n th

e EP

G m

eetin

g/s

- Man

ufac

turin

g Re

surg

ence

Pl

an

1 ca

ll5

Rece

ived

all

docu

men

ts

via

emai

l- T

his i

s a fo

llow

-up

requ

est a

fter w

e ha

d a

roun

dtab

le d

iscus

sion

with

ASe

c. F

ita

Alda

ba.

- Her

offi

ce re

ferr

ed u

s to

the

Boar

d of

In

vest

men

ts (B

OI).

- We

got t

he d

ocum

ents

afte

r one

(1)

follo

w-u

p ca

ll on

ly.- T

he E

PG m

eetin

g w

as n

ot g

iven

be

caus

e th

ere’

s no

mee

ting

yet.

Janu

ary

30, 2

014–

Pre

sent

(IDTP

G/AS

ec O

ffice

)- L

ist o

f con

sulta

tions

don

e re

: AEC

201

5- M

ater

ials

used

dur

ing

the

cons

ulta

tions

- Sum

mar

y re

port

of fi

ndin

gs

from

thos

e co

nsul

tatio

ns

13 c

alls

136

On-

goin

g- T

his i

s our

seco

nd a

ttem

pt to

get

do

cum

ents

from

DTI

.- T

his ti

me

arou

nd, r

espo

nses

wer

e a

lot

mor

e di

fficu

lt to

get

(the

con

tact

per

son

alw

ays s

ays t

o fo

llow

-up,

but

to n

o av

ail).

Hous

e of

Re

pres

enta

tives

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(Indi

vidu

al O

ffice

s of

Reps

. Wal

den

Bello

, Ruf

us

Rodr

igue

z, W

inst

on C

aste

lo,

Mar

ia L

ourd

es A

cost

a-Al

ba,

Emm

i de

Jesu

s, L

eah

Paqu

iz)- H

ouse

Res

oluti

ons 3

75,

452,

612

, 666

, 746

, 760

, and

13

13- P

rivile

ge S

peec

h 13

and

76

20 c

alls

59Al

l doc

umen

ts w

ere

obta

ined

via

em

ail a

nd

fax

- I a

ggre

gate

d th

e ca

lls m

ade

to a

ll th

ese

indi

vidu

al o

ffice

s bec

ause

they

wer

e ju

st

mer

e ph

one

calls

(no

lette

r was

sent

).- I

t is i

mpo

rtan

t to

note

that

the

59 d

ays

repr

esen

t the

num

ber o

f wor

king

day

s ne

eded

to g

et a

ll do

cum

ents

. How

ever

, th

ere

wer

e offi

ces w

ho su

bmitt

ed th

e ne

eded

doc

umen

ts e

arlie

r (so

me

just

aft

er a

day

, som

e aft

er so

me

num

ber

of w

eeks

). U

nfor

tuna

tely,

dat

a on

eac

h sp

ecifi

c offi

ce w

ere

not r

ecor

ded.

- Som

e se

nt th

eir H

Rs v

ia e

mai

l and

so

me

via

fax.

- It’s

impo

rtan

t to

note

that

som

e offi

ces

foun

d it

easie

r to

just

send

the

HR a

nd

PS. T

he o

ther

s had

to w

ait f

or th

eir

high

er-u

p’s a

ppro

val –

a si

gn o

f non

-un

iform

ity in

giv

ing

out d

ocum

ents

to

the

publ

ic.

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(Eco

nom

ic A

ffairs

Co

mm

ittee

)- M

inut

es o

f the

Aug

ust 2

6,

2014

Mee

ting

on H

ouse

Re

solu

tions

666

and

746

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 5,

2014

Mee

ting

(Pre

sent

ation

on

the

com

mitm

ents

to

the

AEC

in re

latio

n to

agr

icul

ture

, tra

de

and

indu

stry

, and

SM

E de

velo

pmen

t); a

nd c

opie

s of

pap

ers/

subm

issio

ns b

y re

sour

ce p

erso

ns- M

inut

es o

f the

May

27,

20

14 M

eetin

g on

Hou

se

Reso

lutio

ns 6

66 a

nd 7

46;

and

brie

fing

pape

rs/

pres

enta

tions

subm

itted

by

DFA

and

DTI

- Min

utes

of N

ovem

ber 2

7,

2013

Mee

ting

(Brie

fing

by

the

PEZA

on

the

stat

us o

f ec

ozon

es);

and

a co

py o

f the

br

iefin

g pa

per/

pres

enta

tion

subm

itted

by

PEZA

4 ca

lls59

Parti

al d

ocum

ents

wer

e re

ceiv

ed (h

ardc

opy)

in

clud

ing:

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 26

, 201

4 M

eetin

g on

Ho

use

Reso

lutio

ns 6

66

and

746

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 5,

201

4 M

eetin

g (P

rese

ntati

on o

n th

e co

mm

itmen

ts to

the

AEC

in re

latio

n to

agr

icul

ture

, tr

ade

and

indu

stry

, and

SM

E de

velo

pmen

t);

and

copi

es o

f pap

ers/

subm

issio

ns b

y re

sour

ce

pers

ons

- Min

utes

of t

he M

ay 2

7,

2014

Mee

ting

on H

ouse

Re

solu

tions

666

and

746

; an

d br

iefin

g pa

pers

/pr

esen

tatio

ns su

bmitt

ed

by D

FA a

nd D

TI

- We

got t

he d

ocum

ents

by

goin

g to

a m

eetin

g of

the

com

mitt

ee la

st

Nov

embe

r, 20

14

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(For

eign

Aff

airs

Com

mitt

ee)

- Min

utes

of t

he Ju

ne 9

, 20

14 M

eetin

g (B

riefin

g by

DFA

on

the

ASEA

N

Inte

grati

on 2

015)

and

co

py o

f brie

fing

pape

r/pr

esen

tatio

n su

bmitt

ed b

y DF

A

3 ca

lls a

nd 1

lette

r31

Rece

ived

the

docu

men

t re

ques

ted

via

emai

l- T

hey

lost

the

initi

al le

tter s

ent s

o w

e ha

d to

rese

nd it

.

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(Tra

de

and

Indu

stry

Com

mitt

ee)

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 26,

20

14 M

eetin

g on

Hou

se

Reso

lutio

ns 6

66 a

nd 7

46- M

inut

es o

f the

Aug

ust 5

, 20

14 M

eetin

g (P

rese

ntati

on

on th

e co

mm

itmen

ts

to th

e AE

C in

rela

tion

to a

gric

ultu

re, t

rade

an

d in

dust

ry, a

nd S

ME

deve

lopm

ent)

; and

cop

ies

of p

aper

s/su

bmiss

ions

by

reso

urce

per

sons

- Min

utes

of t

he M

ay 2

7,

2014

Mee

ting

on H

ouse

Re

solu

tions

666

and

746

; an

d br

iefin

g pa

pers

/pr

esen

tatio

ns su

bmitt

ed b

y DF

A an

d DT

I- M

inut

es o

f Nov

embe

r 27,

20

13 M

eetin

g (B

riefin

g by

th

e PE

ZA o

n th

e st

atus

of

ecoz

ones

); an

d a

copy

of t

he

brie

fing

pape

r/pr

esen

tatio

n su

bmitt

ed b

y PE

ZA

1 ca

ll6

Refe

rral

to H

oR E

cono

mic

Aff

airs

Com

mitt

ee v

ia

emai

l

- The

doc

umen

ts w

e re

ques

ted

simul

tane

ously

to th

e Ho

R Ec

onom

ic

Affai

rs a

nd T

rade

& In

dust

ry C

omm

ittee

s ar

e th

e sa

me.

- The

y sa

id th

e Ec

onom

ic A

ffairs

Co

mm

ittee

is th

e le

ad c

omm

ittee

on

the

matt

er.

Nati

onal

Eco

nom

ic

Deve

lopm

ent A

utho

rity

Oct

ober

30,

201

4 (O

ffice

of

the

Dire

ctor

-Gen

eral

)- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of

com

mitm

ents

mad

e by

the

Phili

ppin

es to

the

ASEA

N

Fram

ewor

k Ag

reem

ent o

n Se

rvic

es (A

FAS)

- List

and

stat

us o

f co

mm

itmen

ts m

ade

by th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

on

inve

stm

ents

, as

spec

ific

in th

e AE

C 20

15

Prio

rity

Actio

ns- L

ist a

nd c

opie

s of

com

plet

ed a

nd o

n-go

ing

impa

ct st

udie

s rel

ated

to

thes

e co

mm

itmen

ts- L

ist o

f pro

gram

s (c

onsu

ltatio

ns, e

tc.)

unde

rtak

en a

nd/o

r pla

nned

fo

r the

pre

para

tion

of

pote

ntial

ly a

ffect

ed

indu

strie

s and

wor

kers

13 c

alls

36Re

ceiv

ed p

artia

l do

cum

ents

via

em

ail

from

the

Serv

ices

Div

ision

in

clud

ing:

- List

and

stat

us o

f co

mm

itmen

ts m

ade

by th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

to

the

ASEA

N F

ram

ewor

k Ag

reem

ent o

n Se

rvic

es

(AFA

S)- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of

com

mitm

ents

mad

e by

the

Phili

ppin

es o

n in

vest

men

ts, a

s spe

cific

in

the

AEC

2015

Prio

rity

Actio

ns- L

ist a

nd c

opie

s of

com

plet

ed a

nd o

n-go

ing

impa

ct st

udie

s rel

ated

to

thes

e co

mm

itmen

ts

- Out

of t

he 1

3 ca

lls, t

here

wer

e ca

lls

mad

e as

a re

sult

of a

refe

rral

from

one

ag

ency

with

in N

EDA

to a

noth

er. T

hese

re

ferr

als i

nclu

de th

e DD

G O

ffice

, TSI

S,

and

the

Serv

ices

Div

ision

.- N

EDA

said

that

the

list o

f pro

gram

s can

be

obt

aine

d fr

om D

TI.

July

28,

201

5 (S

ervi

ces

Divi

sion)

- List

of c

onsu

ltatio

ns d

one

re: A

EC 2

015

- Mat

eria

ls us

ed d

urin

g th

e co

nsul

tatio

ns- S

umm

ary

repo

rt o

f find

ings

fr

om th

ose

cons

ulta

tions

- Upd

ates

on

AFAS

9 a

nd 1

0

1 ca

ll2

Refe

rral

to D

TI a

nd D

OLE

vi

a em

ail

- The

refe

rral

app

lies t

o al

l doc

umen

ts

exce

pt th

e up

date

s on

the

AFAS

9 a

nd

10. T

hose

are

not

yet

ava

ilabl

e.

Depa

rtm

ent o

f Ag

ricul

ture

July

9, 2

015

- List

of c

onsu

ltatio

ns d

one

re: A

EC 2

015

- Mat

eria

ls us

ed d

urin

g th

e co

nsul

tatio

ns- S

umm

ary

repo

rt o

f find

ings

fr

om th

ose

cons

ulta

tions

Non

e6

Rece

ived

all

docu

men

ts

requ

este

d vi

a em

ail

- Afte

r I se

nt th

e re

ques

t lett

er, t

he

depa

rtm

ent s

ent a

ll th

e do

cum

ents

I ne

ed a

fter a

wee

k (w

ithou

t the

nee

d fo

r fo

llow

-up

calls

/lette

rs)

- The

y al

so in

vite

d AE

R to

join

thei

r gro

up

of N

GOs t

hat t

hey

cons

ult r

e: A

SEAN

and

tr

ade

matt

ers

Depa

rtm

ent o

f Lab

or

and

Empl

oym

ent

July

28,

201

5- L

ist o

f con

sulta

tions

don

e re

: AEC

201

5- M

ater

ials

used

dur

ing

the

cons

ulta

tions

- Sum

mar

y re

port

of fi

ndin

gs

from

thos

e co

nsul

tatio

ns

5 ca

lls7

(on-

goin

g)Th

e La

bor

Com

mun

icati

ons O

ffice

(L

CO) a

sked

me

to

chec

k th

eir w

ebsit

e ne

ws a

rticl

es fo

r the

in

form

ation

I ne

ed. T

hey

said

to c

all b

ack

if I c

an’t

find

them

.

- Out

of t

he 5

follo

w-u

p ca

lls, w

e w

ere

dire

cted

to 4

diff

eren

t bur

eaus

w

ithin

the

depa

rtm

ent.

It in

clud

es

Inte

rnati

onal

Lab

or A

ffairs

Bur

eau,

Bu

reau

on

Labo

r Rel

ation

s (BL

R), B

urea

u of

Loc

al E

mpl

oym

ent (

BLE)

, and

the

Labo

r Com

mun

icati

ons O

ffice

(LCO

). Al

l of

them

said

that

they

don

’t ha

ve th

e in

form

ation

we

wer

e as

king

for e

xcep

t fo

r the

LCO

whi

ch a

sked

us t

o ch

eck

thei

r web

site.

How

ever

, the

web

site

does

n’t c

onta

in th

e su

mm

ary

of th

e lis

t we

need

. Also

, the

LCO

said

to c

all

agai

n, b

ecau

se th

ey w

ill a

sk th

e BL

R an

d BL

E fo

r the

info

rmati

on (b

urea

us w

ho

prev

ious

ly sa

id th

at th

ey d

on’t

have

the

info

rmati

on).

*Num

ber o

f Wor

king

Day

s inc

lude

s the

dat

e of

the

initi

al re

ques

t unti

l the

day

a re

spon

se w

as m

ade

eith

er v

ia se

ndin

g of

doc

umen

ts o

r ref

erra

l

26

Tabl

e 5

AER-

IP T

eam

FO

I Req

uest

Log

Re

port

as o

f Aug

ust 2

015

Gov

ernm

ent A

genc

yDa

te o

f Ini

tial R

eque

st/

Docu

men

ts R

eque

sted

No.

of F

ollo

w-u

p Le

tter

s/Ca

lls/

Emai

ls

No.

of W

orki

ng

Days

for

Resp

onse

Nat

ure

of R

espo

nse

Rem

arks

Depa

rtm

ent o

f For

eign

Aff

airs

Augu

st, 2

8, 2

014

- List

of a

genc

ies a

nd

poin

t per

sons

invo

lved

in

AEC

2015

matt

ers f

or th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

,- S

tatu

s of t

he P

hilip

pine

s’

AEC

com

mitm

ents

(i.e

. co

mpl

ied

with

, out

stan

ding

)

2 ca

lls a

nd 1

lette

r4

Refe

rral

to D

TI- T

he fo

llow

-up

lette

r is a

rese

ndin

g of

th

e in

itial

requ

est b

ecau

se D

FA lo

st it

in

our fi

rst s

endi

ng- W

hile

DTI

hol

ds in

form

ation

on

ASEA

N m

atter

s, it

is u

nkno

wn

why

DF

A, th

e de

part

men

t in-

char

ge o

f AS

EAN

rela

tions

, was

n’t a

ble

to p

rovi

de

docu

men

ts re

gard

ing

the

stru

ctur

e of

th

e bo

dy d

ealin

g w

ith A

SEAN

affa

irs.

Depa

rtm

ent o

f Tra

de

and

Indu

stry

Augu

st 2

8, 2

014

(IDTP

G/AS

ec O

ffice

)- L

ist o

f age

ncie

s and

po

int p

erso

ns in

volv

ed in

AE

C 20

15 m

atter

s for

the

Phili

ppin

es- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of

the

Phili

ppin

es’ A

EC

com

mitm

ents

(i.e

. com

plie

d w

ith, o

utst

andi

ng)

- List

of p

rogr

ams

(con

sulta

tions

, etc

.) to

pr

epar

e in

dust

ry a

nd

wor

kers

for A

EC 2

015

- List

and

cop

ies o

f co

mpl

eted

and

on-

goin

g im

pact

stud

ies r

elat

ed to

AE

C 20

15- A

sses

smen

t Pap

er o

n in

dust

ry p

repa

redn

ess f

or

2015

- List

and

stat

us o

f im

plem

enta

tion

of

com

plet

ed m

utua

l re

cogn

ition

arr

ange

men

ts

(MRA

s)- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of o

n-go

ing

MRA

neg

otiati

ons

8 ca

lls a

nd 1

lette

r42

Rece

ived

par

tial

docu

men

ts v

ia e

mai

l in

clud

ing:

- List

of a

genc

ies a

nd

poin

t per

sons

invo

lved

in

AEC

2015

matt

ers f

or th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

- List

of p

rogr

ams t

o pr

epar

e in

dust

ry a

nd

wor

kers

for A

EC 2

015

- List

and

cop

ies o

f co

mpl

eted

and

on-

goin

g im

pact

stud

ies r

elat

ed to

AE

C 20

15As

sess

men

t Pap

er o

n in

dust

ry p

repa

redn

ess f

or

2015

- DTI

invi

ted

us in

a m

eetin

g w

ith A

Sec.

Pe

rry

Rodo

lfo la

st S

epte

mbe

r 15,

201

4 (1

2 w

orki

ng d

ays a

fter i

nitia

l req

uest

). In

the

mee

ting,

they

pre

sent

ed a

PPT

w

here

som

e of

the

info

rmati

on w

e ne

eded

wer

e sh

own.

- The

info

rmati

on w

e re

ceiv

ed c

omes

in

the

form

of t

he P

PT p

rese

nted

dur

ing

the

mee

ting.

- For

the

list o

f age

ncie

s and

poi

nt

pers

ons,

they

ask

ed u

s to

find

AO 2

0,

whi

ch is

eas

ily a

cces

sed

in th

e in

tern

et.

- Afte

r the

initi

al m

eetin

g, th

e re

ceip

t of

the

PPT

was

qui

te lo

ng d

ue to

reas

ons

that

incl

ude

wai

ting

for a

ppro

val o

f the

hi

gher

-ups

in th

eir o

ffice

. Afte

r we

sent

a

follo

w-u

p le

tter,

we

imm

edia

tely

got

th

e PP

T.

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(IDTP

G/AS

ec O

ffice

)- L

ist o

f age

ncie

s and

po

int p

erso

ns in

volv

ed in

AE

C 20

15 m

atter

s for

the

Phili

ppin

es- S

tatu

s of t

he P

hilip

pine

s’

AEC

com

mitm

ents

(i.e

. co

mpl

ied

with

, out

stan

ding

)

7 ca

lls a

nd 1

fo

llow

-up

lette

r38

Rece

ived

par

tial

docu

men

ts v

ia e

mai

l in

clud

ing:

- List

of a

genc

ies a

nd

poin

t per

sons

invo

lved

in

AEC

2015

matt

ers f

or th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

- Thi

s is a

refe

rral

from

ear

lier r

eque

st to

DF

A.- T

he fo

llow

-up

lette

r her

e is

the

sam

e as

that

in A

ugus

t 28

(we

mer

ged

the

requ

ests

alre

ady)

.- A

s for

oth

er re

mar

ks, p

erta

in to

the

resu

lts fr

om th

e Au

gust

28

requ

est.

Oct

ober

29,

201

4 (B

oard

of

Inve

stm

ent)

- Fra

mew

ork

docu

men

t for

ch

oosin

g se

ctor

/indu

stry

- Tem

plat

e fo

r reg

iona

l ro

adm

aps

- Doc

umen

ts o

n th

e EP

G m

eetin

g/s

- Man

ufac

turin

g Re

surg

ence

Pl

an

1 ca

ll5

Rece

ived

all

docu

men

ts

via

emai

l- T

his i

s a fo

llow

-up

requ

est a

fter w

e ha

d a

roun

dtab

le d

iscus

sion

with

ASe

c. F

ita

Alda

ba.

- Her

offi

ce re

ferr

ed u

s to

the

Boar

d of

In

vest

men

ts (B

OI).

- We

got t

he d

ocum

ents

afte

r one

(1)

follo

w-u

p ca

ll on

ly.- T

he E

PG m

eetin

g w

as n

ot g

iven

be

caus

e th

ere’

s no

mee

ting

yet.

Janu

ary

30, 2

014–

Pre

sent

(IDTP

G/AS

ec O

ffice

)- L

ist o

f con

sulta

tions

don

e re

: AEC

201

5- M

ater

ials

used

dur

ing

the

cons

ulta

tions

- Sum

mar

y re

port

of fi

ndin

gs

from

thos

e co

nsul

tatio

ns

13 c

alls

136

On-

goin

g- T

his i

s our

seco

nd a

ttem

pt to

get

do

cum

ents

from

DTI

.- T

his ti

me

arou

nd, r

espo

nses

wer

e a

lot

mor

e di

fficu

lt to

get

(the

con

tact

per

son

alw

ays s

ays t

o fo

llow

-up,

but

to n

o av

ail).

Hous

e of

Re

pres

enta

tives

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(Indi

vidu

al O

ffice

s of

Reps

. Wal

den

Bello

, Ruf

us

Rodr

igue

z, W

inst

on C

aste

lo,

Mar

ia L

ourd

es A

cost

a-Al

ba,

Emm

i de

Jesu

s, L

eah

Paqu

iz)- H

ouse

Res

oluti

ons 3

75,

452,

612

, 666

, 746

, 760

, and

13

13- P

rivile

ge S

peec

h 13

and

76

20 c

alls

59Al

l doc

umen

ts w

ere

obta

ined

via

em

ail a

nd

fax

- I a

ggre

gate

d th

e ca

lls m

ade

to a

ll th

ese

indi

vidu

al o

ffice

s bec

ause

they

wer

e ju

st

mer

e ph

one

calls

(no

lette

r was

sent

).- I

t is i

mpo

rtan

t to

note

that

the

59 d

ays

repr

esen

t the

num

ber o

f wor

king

day

s ne

eded

to g

et a

ll do

cum

ents

. How

ever

, th

ere

wer

e offi

ces w

ho su

bmitt

ed th

e ne

eded

doc

umen

ts e

arlie

r (so

me

just

aft

er a

day

, som

e aft

er so

me

num

ber

of w

eeks

). U

nfor

tuna

tely,

dat

a on

eac

h sp

ecifi

c offi

ce w

ere

not r

ecor

ded.

- Som

e se

nt th

eir H

Rs v

ia e

mai

l and

so

me

via

fax.

- It’s

impo

rtan

t to

note

that

som

e offi

ces

foun

d it

easie

r to

just

send

the

HR a

nd

PS. T

he o

ther

s had

to w

ait f

or th

eir

high

er-u

p’s a

ppro

val –

a si

gn o

f non

-un

iform

ity in

giv

ing

out d

ocum

ents

to

the

publ

ic.

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(Eco

nom

ic A

ffairs

Co

mm

ittee

)- M

inut

es o

f the

Aug

ust 2

6,

2014

Mee

ting

on H

ouse

Re

solu

tions

666

and

746

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 5,

2014

Mee

ting

(Pre

sent

ation

on

the

com

mitm

ents

to

the

AEC

in re

latio

n to

agr

icul

ture

, tra

de

and

indu

stry

, and

SM

E de

velo

pmen

t); a

nd c

opie

s of

pap

ers/

subm

issio

ns b

y re

sour

ce p

erso

ns- M

inut

es o

f the

May

27,

20

14 M

eetin

g on

Hou

se

Reso

lutio

ns 6

66 a

nd 7

46;

and

brie

fing

pape

rs/

pres

enta

tions

subm

itted

by

DFA

and

DTI

- Min

utes

of N

ovem

ber 2

7,

2013

Mee

ting

(Brie

fing

by

the

PEZA

on

the

stat

us o

f ec

ozon

es);

and

a co

py o

f the

br

iefin

g pa

per/

pres

enta

tion

subm

itted

by

PEZA

4 ca

lls59

Parti

al d

ocum

ents

wer

e re

ceiv

ed (h

ardc

opy)

in

clud

ing:

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 26

, 201

4 M

eetin

g on

Ho

use

Reso

lutio

ns 6

66

and

746

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 5,

201

4 M

eetin

g (P

rese

ntati

on o

n th

e co

mm

itmen

ts to

the

AEC

in re

latio

n to

agr

icul

ture

, tr

ade

and

indu

stry

, and

SM

E de

velo

pmen

t);

and

copi

es o

f pap

ers/

subm

issio

ns b

y re

sour

ce

pers

ons

- Min

utes

of t

he M

ay 2

7,

2014

Mee

ting

on H

ouse

Re

solu

tions

666

and

746

; an

d br

iefin

g pa

pers

/pr

esen

tatio

ns su

bmitt

ed

by D

FA a

nd D

TI

- We

got t

he d

ocum

ents

by

goin

g to

a m

eetin

g of

the

com

mitt

ee la

st

Nov

embe

r, 20

14

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(For

eign

Aff

airs

Com

mitt

ee)

- Min

utes

of t

he Ju

ne 9

, 20

14 M

eetin

g (B

riefin

g by

DFA

on

the

ASEA

N

Inte

grati

on 2

015)

and

co

py o

f brie

fing

pape

r/pr

esen

tatio

n su

bmitt

ed b

y DF

A

3 ca

lls a

nd 1

lette

r31

Rece

ived

the

docu

men

t re

ques

ted

via

emai

l- T

hey

lost

the

initi

al le

tter s

ent s

o w

e ha

d to

rese

nd it

.

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(Tra

de

and

Indu

stry

Com

mitt

ee)

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 26,

20

14 M

eetin

g on

Hou

se

Reso

lutio

ns 6

66 a

nd 7

46- M

inut

es o

f the

Aug

ust 5

, 20

14 M

eetin

g (P

rese

ntati

on

on th

e co

mm

itmen

ts

to th

e AE

C in

rela

tion

to a

gric

ultu

re, t

rade

an

d in

dust

ry, a

nd S

ME

deve

lopm

ent)

; and

cop

ies

of p

aper

s/su

bmiss

ions

by

reso

urce

per

sons

- Min

utes

of t

he M

ay 2

7,

2014

Mee

ting

on H

ouse

Re

solu

tions

666

and

746

; an

d br

iefin

g pa

pers

/pr

esen

tatio

ns su

bmitt

ed b

y DF

A an

d DT

I- M

inut

es o

f Nov

embe

r 27,

20

13 M

eetin

g (B

riefin

g by

th

e PE

ZA o

n th

e st

atus

of

ecoz

ones

); an

d a

copy

of t

he

brie

fing

pape

r/pr

esen

tatio

n su

bmitt

ed b

y PE

ZA

1 ca

ll6

Refe

rral

to H

oR E

cono

mic

Aff

airs

Com

mitt

ee v

ia

emai

l

- The

doc

umen

ts w

e re

ques

ted

simul

tane

ously

to th

e Ho

R Ec

onom

ic

Affai

rs a

nd T

rade

& In

dust

ry C

omm

ittee

s ar

e th

e sa

me.

- The

y sa

id th

e Ec

onom

ic A

ffairs

Co

mm

ittee

is th

e le

ad c

omm

ittee

on

the

matt

er.

Nati

onal

Eco

nom

ic

Deve

lopm

ent A

utho

rity

Oct

ober

30,

201

4 (O

ffice

of

the

Dire

ctor

-Gen

eral

)- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of

com

mitm

ents

mad

e by

the

Phili

ppin

es to

the

ASEA

N

Fram

ewor

k Ag

reem

ent o

n Se

rvic

es (A

FAS)

- List

and

stat

us o

f co

mm

itmen

ts m

ade

by th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

on

inve

stm

ents

, as

spec

ific

in th

e AE

C 20

15

Prio

rity

Actio

ns- L

ist a

nd c

opie

s of

com

plet

ed a

nd o

n-go

ing

impa

ct st

udie

s rel

ated

to

thes

e co

mm

itmen

ts- L

ist o

f pro

gram

s (c

onsu

ltatio

ns, e

tc.)

unde

rtak

en a

nd/o

r pla

nned

fo

r the

pre

para

tion

of

pote

ntial

ly a

ffect

ed

indu

strie

s and

wor

kers

13 c

alls

36Re

ceiv

ed p

artia

l do

cum

ents

via

em

ail

from

the

Serv

ices

Div

ision

in

clud

ing:

- List

and

stat

us o

f co

mm

itmen

ts m

ade

by th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

to

the

ASEA

N F

ram

ewor

k Ag

reem

ent o

n Se

rvic

es

(AFA

S)- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of

com

mitm

ents

mad

e by

the

Phili

ppin

es o

n in

vest

men

ts, a

s spe

cific

in

the

AEC

2015

Prio

rity

Actio

ns- L

ist a

nd c

opie

s of

com

plet

ed a

nd o

n-go

ing

impa

ct st

udie

s rel

ated

to

thes

e co

mm

itmen

ts

- Out

of t

he 1

3 ca

lls, t

here

wer

e ca

lls

mad

e as

a re

sult

of a

refe

rral

from

one

ag

ency

with

in N

EDA

to a

noth

er. T

hese

re

ferr

als i

nclu

de th

e DD

G O

ffice

, TSI

S,

and

the

Serv

ices

Div

ision

.- N

EDA

said

that

the

list o

f pro

gram

s can

be

obt

aine

d fr

om D

TI.

July

28,

201

5 (S

ervi

ces

Divi

sion)

- List

of c

onsu

ltatio

ns d

one

re: A

EC 2

015

- Mat

eria

ls us

ed d

urin

g th

e co

nsul

tatio

ns- S

umm

ary

repo

rt o

f find

ings

fr

om th

ose

cons

ulta

tions

- Upd

ates

on

AFAS

9 a

nd 1

0

1 ca

ll2

Refe

rral

to D

TI a

nd D

OLE

vi

a em

ail

- The

refe

rral

app

lies t

o al

l doc

umen

ts

exce

pt th

e up

date

s on

the

AFAS

9 a

nd

10. T

hose

are

not

yet

ava

ilabl

e.

Depa

rtm

ent o

f Ag

ricul

ture

July

9, 2

015

- List

of c

onsu

ltatio

ns d

one

re: A

EC 2

015

- Mat

eria

ls us

ed d

urin

g th

e co

nsul

tatio

ns- S

umm

ary

repo

rt o

f find

ings

fr

om th

ose

cons

ulta

tions

Non

e6

Rece

ived

all

docu

men

ts

requ

este

d vi

a em

ail

- Afte

r I se

nt th

e re

ques

t lett

er, t

he

depa

rtm

ent s

ent a

ll th

e do

cum

ents

I ne

ed a

fter a

wee

k (w

ithou

t the

nee

d fo

r fo

llow

-up

calls

/lette

rs)

- The

y al

so in

vite

d AE

R to

join

thei

r gro

up

of N

GOs t

hat t

hey

cons

ult r

e: A

SEAN

and

tr

ade

matt

ers

Depa

rtm

ent o

f Lab

or

and

Empl

oym

ent

July

28,

201

5- L

ist o

f con

sulta

tions

don

e re

: AEC

201

5- M

ater

ials

used

dur

ing

the

cons

ulta

tions

- Sum

mar

y re

port

of fi

ndin

gs

from

thos

e co

nsul

tatio

ns

5 ca

lls7

(on-

goin

g)Th

e La

bor

Com

mun

icati

ons O

ffice

(L

CO) a

sked

me

to

chec

k th

eir w

ebsit

e ne

ws a

rticl

es fo

r the

in

form

ation

I ne

ed. T

hey

said

to c

all b

ack

if I c

an’t

find

them

.

- Out

of t

he 5

follo

w-u

p ca

lls, w

e w

ere

dire

cted

to 4

diff

eren

t bur

eaus

w

ithin

the

depa

rtm

ent.

It in

clud

es

Inte

rnati

onal

Lab

or A

ffairs

Bur

eau,

Bu

reau

on

Labo

r Rel

ation

s (BL

R), B

urea

u of

Loc

al E

mpl

oym

ent (

BLE)

, and

the

Labo

r Com

mun

icati

ons O

ffice

(LCO

). Al

l of

them

said

that

they

don

’t ha

ve th

e in

form

ation

we

wer

e as

king

for e

xcep

t fo

r the

LCO

whi

ch a

sked

us t

o ch

eck

thei

r web

site.

How

ever

, the

web

site

does

n’t c

onta

in th

e su

mm

ary

of th

e lis

t we

need

. Also

, the

LCO

said

to c

all

agai

n, b

ecau

se th

ey w

ill a

sk th

e BL

R an

d BL

E fo

r the

info

rmati

on (b

urea

us w

ho

prev

ious

ly sa

id th

at th

ey d

on’t

have

the

info

rmati

on).

*Num

ber o

f Wor

king

Day

s inc

lude

s the

dat

e of

the

initi

al re

ques

t unti

l the

day

a re

spon

se w

as m

ade

eith

er v

ia se

ndin

g of

doc

umen

ts o

r ref

erra

l

Tabl

e 5

AER-

IP T

eam

FO

I Req

uest

Log

Re

port

as o

f Aug

ust 2

015

Gov

ernm

ent A

genc

yDa

te o

f Ini

tial R

eque

st/

Docu

men

ts R

eque

sted

No.

of F

ollo

w-u

p Le

tter

s/Ca

lls/

Emai

ls

No.

of W

orki

ng

Days

for

Resp

onse

Nat

ure

of R

espo

nse

Rem

arks

Depa

rtm

ent o

f For

eign

Aff

airs

Augu

st, 2

8, 2

014

- List

of a

genc

ies a

nd

poin

t per

sons

invo

lved

in

AEC

2015

matt

ers f

or th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

,- S

tatu

s of t

he P

hilip

pine

s’

AEC

com

mitm

ents

(i.e

. co

mpl

ied

with

, out

stan

ding

)

2 ca

lls a

nd 1

lette

r4

Refe

rral

to D

TI- T

he fo

llow

-up

lette

r is a

rese

ndin

g of

th

e in

itial

requ

est b

ecau

se D

FA lo

st it

in

our fi

rst s

endi

ng- W

hile

DTI

hol

ds in

form

ation

on

ASEA

N m

atter

s, it

is u

nkno

wn

why

DF

A, th

e de

part

men

t in-

char

ge o

f AS

EAN

rela

tions

, was

n’t a

ble

to p

rovi

de

docu

men

ts re

gard

ing

the

stru

ctur

e of

th

e bo

dy d

ealin

g w

ith A

SEAN

affa

irs.

Depa

rtm

ent o

f Tra

de

and

Indu

stry

Augu

st 2

8, 2

014

(IDTP

G/AS

ec O

ffice

)- L

ist o

f age

ncie

s and

po

int p

erso

ns in

volv

ed in

AE

C 20

15 m

atter

s for

the

Phili

ppin

es- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of

the

Phili

ppin

es’ A

EC

com

mitm

ents

(i.e

. com

plie

d w

ith, o

utst

andi

ng)

- List

of p

rogr

ams

(con

sulta

tions

, etc

.) to

pr

epar

e in

dust

ry a

nd

wor

kers

for A

EC 2

015

- List

and

cop

ies o

f co

mpl

eted

and

on-

goin

g im

pact

stud

ies r

elat

ed to

AE

C 20

15- A

sses

smen

t Pap

er o

n in

dust

ry p

repa

redn

ess f

or

2015

- List

and

stat

us o

f im

plem

enta

tion

of

com

plet

ed m

utua

l re

cogn

ition

arr

ange

men

ts

(MRA

s)- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of o

n-go

ing

MRA

neg

otiati

ons

8 ca

lls a

nd 1

lette

r42

Rece

ived

par

tial

docu

men

ts v

ia e

mai

l in

clud

ing:

- List

of a

genc

ies a

nd

poin

t per

sons

invo

lved

in

AEC

2015

matt

ers f

or th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

- List

of p

rogr

ams t

o pr

epar

e in

dust

ry a

nd

wor

kers

for A

EC 2

015

- List

and

cop

ies o

f co

mpl

eted

and

on-

goin

g im

pact

stud

ies r

elat

ed to

AE

C 20

15As

sess

men

t Pap

er o

n in

dust

ry p

repa

redn

ess f

or

2015

- DTI

invi

ted

us in

a m

eetin

g w

ith A

Sec.

Pe

rry

Rodo

lfo la

st S

epte

mbe

r 15,

201

4 (1

2 w

orki

ng d

ays a

fter i

nitia

l req

uest

). In

the

mee

ting,

they

pre

sent

ed a

PPT

w

here

som

e of

the

info

rmati

on w

e ne

eded

wer

e sh

own.

- The

info

rmati

on w

e re

ceiv

ed c

omes

in

the

form

of t

he P

PT p

rese

nted

dur

ing

the

mee

ting.

- For

the

list o

f age

ncie

s and

poi

nt

pers

ons,

they

ask

ed u

s to

find

AO 2

0,

whi

ch is

eas

ily a

cces

sed

in th

e in

tern

et.

- Afte

r the

initi

al m

eetin

g, th

e re

ceip

t of

the

PPT

was

qui

te lo

ng d

ue to

reas

ons

that

incl

ude

wai

ting

for a

ppro

val o

f the

hi

gher

-ups

in th

eir o

ffice

. Afte

r we

sent

a

follo

w-u

p le

tter,

we

imm

edia

tely

got

th

e PP

T.

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(IDTP

G/AS

ec O

ffice

)- L

ist o

f age

ncie

s and

po

int p

erso

ns in

volv

ed in

AE

C 20

15 m

atter

s for

the

Phili

ppin

es- S

tatu

s of t

he P

hilip

pine

s’

AEC

com

mitm

ents

(i.e

. co

mpl

ied

with

, out

stan

ding

)

7 ca

lls a

nd 1

fo

llow

-up

lette

r38

Rece

ived

par

tial

docu

men

ts v

ia e

mai

l in

clud

ing:

- List

of a

genc

ies a

nd

poin

t per

sons

invo

lved

in

AEC

2015

matt

ers f

or th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

- Thi

s is a

refe

rral

from

ear

lier r

eque

st to

DF

A.- T

he fo

llow

-up

lette

r her

e is

the

sam

e as

that

in A

ugus

t 28

(we

mer

ged

the

requ

ests

alre

ady)

.- A

s for

oth

er re

mar

ks, p

erta

in to

the

resu

lts fr

om th

e Au

gust

28

requ

est.

Oct

ober

29,

201

4 (B

oard

of

Inve

stm

ent)

- Fra

mew

ork

docu

men

t for

ch

oosin

g se

ctor

/indu

stry

- Tem

plat

e fo

r reg

iona

l ro

adm

aps

- Doc

umen

ts o

n th

e EP

G m

eetin

g/s

- Man

ufac

turin

g Re

surg

ence

Pl

an

1 ca

ll5

Rece

ived

all

docu

men

ts

via

emai

l- T

his i

s a fo

llow

-up

requ

est a

fter w

e ha

d a

roun

dtab

le d

iscus

sion

with

ASe

c. F

ita

Alda

ba.

- Her

offi

ce re

ferr

ed u

s to

the

Boar

d of

In

vest

men

ts (B

OI).

- We

got t

he d

ocum

ents

afte

r one

(1)

follo

w-u

p ca

ll on

ly.- T

he E

PG m

eetin

g w

as n

ot g

iven

be

caus

e th

ere’

s no

mee

ting

yet.

Janu

ary

30, 2

014–

Pre

sent

(IDTP

G/AS

ec O

ffice

)- L

ist o

f con

sulta

tions

don

e re

: AEC

201

5- M

ater

ials

used

dur

ing

the

cons

ulta

tions

- Sum

mar

y re

port

of fi

ndin

gs

from

thos

e co

nsul

tatio

ns

13 c

alls

136

On-

goin

g- T

his i

s our

seco

nd a

ttem

pt to

get

do

cum

ents

from

DTI

.- T

his ti

me

arou

nd, r

espo

nses

wer

e a

lot

mor

e di

fficu

lt to

get

(the

con

tact

per

son

alw

ays s

ays t

o fo

llow

-up,

but

to n

o av

ail).

Hous

e of

Re

pres

enta

tives

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(Indi

vidu

al O

ffice

s of

Reps

. Wal

den

Bello

, Ruf

us

Rodr

igue

z, W

inst

on C

aste

lo,

Mar

ia L

ourd

es A

cost

a-Al

ba,

Emm

i de

Jesu

s, L

eah

Paqu

iz)- H

ouse

Res

oluti

ons 3

75,

452,

612

, 666

, 746

, 760

, and

13

13- P

rivile

ge S

peec

h 13

and

76

20 c

alls

59Al

l doc

umen

ts w

ere

obta

ined

via

em

ail a

nd

fax

- I a

ggre

gate

d th

e ca

lls m

ade

to a

ll th

ese

indi

vidu

al o

ffice

s bec

ause

they

wer

e ju

st

mer

e ph

one

calls

(no

lette

r was

sent

).- I

t is i

mpo

rtan

t to

note

that

the

59 d

ays

repr

esen

t the

num

ber o

f wor

king

day

s ne

eded

to g

et a

ll do

cum

ents

. How

ever

, th

ere

wer

e offi

ces w

ho su

bmitt

ed th

e ne

eded

doc

umen

ts e

arlie

r (so

me

just

aft

er a

day

, som

e aft

er so

me

num

ber

of w

eeks

). U

nfor

tuna

tely,

dat

a on

eac

h sp

ecifi

c offi

ce w

ere

not r

ecor

ded.

- Som

e se

nt th

eir H

Rs v

ia e

mai

l and

so

me

via

fax.

- It’s

impo

rtan

t to

note

that

som

e offi

ces

foun

d it

easie

r to

just

send

the

HR a

nd

PS. T

he o

ther

s had

to w

ait f

or th

eir

high

er-u

p’s a

ppro

val –

a si

gn o

f non

-un

iform

ity in

giv

ing

out d

ocum

ents

to

the

publ

ic.

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(Eco

nom

ic A

ffairs

Co

mm

ittee

)- M

inut

es o

f the

Aug

ust 2

6,

2014

Mee

ting

on H

ouse

Re

solu

tions

666

and

746

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 5,

2014

Mee

ting

(Pre

sent

ation

on

the

com

mitm

ents

to

the

AEC

in re

latio

n to

agr

icul

ture

, tra

de

and

indu

stry

, and

SM

E de

velo

pmen

t); a

nd c

opie

s of

pap

ers/

subm

issio

ns b

y re

sour

ce p

erso

ns- M

inut

es o

f the

May

27,

20

14 M

eetin

g on

Hou

se

Reso

lutio

ns 6

66 a

nd 7

46;

and

brie

fing

pape

rs/

pres

enta

tions

subm

itted

by

DFA

and

DTI

- Min

utes

of N

ovem

ber 2

7,

2013

Mee

ting

(Brie

fing

by

the

PEZA

on

the

stat

us o

f ec

ozon

es);

and

a co

py o

f the

br

iefin

g pa

per/

pres

enta

tion

subm

itted

by

PEZA

4 ca

lls59

Parti

al d

ocum

ents

wer

e re

ceiv

ed (h

ardc

opy)

in

clud

ing:

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 26

, 201

4 M

eetin

g on

Ho

use

Reso

lutio

ns 6

66

and

746

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 5,

201

4 M

eetin

g (P

rese

ntati

on o

n th

e co

mm

itmen

ts to

the

AEC

in re

latio

n to

agr

icul

ture

, tr

ade

and

indu

stry

, and

SM

E de

velo

pmen

t);

and

copi

es o

f pap

ers/

subm

issio

ns b

y re

sour

ce

pers

ons

- Min

utes

of t

he M

ay 2

7,

2014

Mee

ting

on H

ouse

Re

solu

tions

666

and

746

; an

d br

iefin

g pa

pers

/pr

esen

tatio

ns su

bmitt

ed

by D

FA a

nd D

TI

- We

got t

he d

ocum

ents

by

goin

g to

a m

eetin

g of

the

com

mitt

ee la

st

Nov

embe

r, 20

14

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(For

eign

Aff

airs

Com

mitt

ee)

- Min

utes

of t

he Ju

ne 9

, 20

14 M

eetin

g (B

riefin

g by

DFA

on

the

ASEA

N

Inte

grati

on 2

015)

and

co

py o

f brie

fing

pape

r/pr

esen

tatio

n su

bmitt

ed b

y DF

A

3 ca

lls a

nd 1

lette

r31

Rece

ived

the

docu

men

t re

ques

ted

via

emai

l- T

hey

lost

the

initi

al le

tter s

ent s

o w

e ha

d to

rese

nd it

.

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(Tra

de

and

Indu

stry

Com

mitt

ee)

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 26,

20

14 M

eetin

g on

Hou

se

Reso

lutio

ns 6

66 a

nd 7

46- M

inut

es o

f the

Aug

ust 5

, 20

14 M

eetin

g (P

rese

ntati

on

on th

e co

mm

itmen

ts

to th

e AE

C in

rela

tion

to a

gric

ultu

re, t

rade

an

d in

dust

ry, a

nd S

ME

deve

lopm

ent)

; and

cop

ies

of p

aper

s/su

bmiss

ions

by

reso

urce

per

sons

- Min

utes

of t

he M

ay 2

7,

2014

Mee

ting

on H

ouse

Re

solu

tions

666

and

746

; an

d br

iefin

g pa

pers

/pr

esen

tatio

ns su

bmitt

ed b

y DF

A an

d DT

I- M

inut

es o

f Nov

embe

r 27,

20

13 M

eetin

g (B

riefin

g by

th

e PE

ZA o

n th

e st

atus

of

ecoz

ones

); an

d a

copy

of t

he

brie

fing

pape

r/pr

esen

tatio

n su

bmitt

ed b

y PE

ZA

1 ca

ll6

Refe

rral

to H

oR E

cono

mic

Aff

airs

Com

mitt

ee v

ia

emai

l

- The

doc

umen

ts w

e re

ques

ted

simul

tane

ously

to th

e Ho

R Ec

onom

ic

Affai

rs a

nd T

rade

& In

dust

ry C

omm

ittee

s ar

e th

e sa

me.

- The

y sa

id th

e Ec

onom

ic A

ffairs

Co

mm

ittee

is th

e le

ad c

omm

ittee

on

the

matt

er.

Nati

onal

Eco

nom

ic

Deve

lopm

ent A

utho

rity

Oct

ober

30,

201

4 (O

ffice

of

the

Dire

ctor

-Gen

eral

)- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of

com

mitm

ents

mad

e by

the

Phili

ppin

es to

the

ASEA

N

Fram

ewor

k Ag

reem

ent o

n Se

rvic

es (A

FAS)

- List

and

stat

us o

f co

mm

itmen

ts m

ade

by th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

on

inve

stm

ents

, as

spec

ific

in th

e AE

C 20

15

Prio

rity

Actio

ns- L

ist a

nd c

opie

s of

com

plet

ed a

nd o

n-go

ing

impa

ct st

udie

s rel

ated

to

thes

e co

mm

itmen

ts- L

ist o

f pro

gram

s (c

onsu

ltatio

ns, e

tc.)

unde

rtak

en a

nd/o

r pla

nned

fo

r the

pre

para

tion

of

pote

ntial

ly a

ffect

ed

indu

strie

s and

wor

kers

13 c

alls

36Re

ceiv

ed p

artia

l do

cum

ents

via

em

ail

from

the

Serv

ices

Div

ision

in

clud

ing:

- List

and

stat

us o

f co

mm

itmen

ts m

ade

by th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

to

the

ASEA

N F

ram

ewor

k Ag

reem

ent o

n Se

rvic

es

(AFA

S)- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of

com

mitm

ents

mad

e by

the

Phili

ppin

es o

n in

vest

men

ts, a

s spe

cific

in

the

AEC

2015

Prio

rity

Actio

ns- L

ist a

nd c

opie

s of

com

plet

ed a

nd o

n-go

ing

impa

ct st

udie

s rel

ated

to

thes

e co

mm

itmen

ts

- Out

of t

he 1

3 ca

lls, t

here

wer

e ca

lls

mad

e as

a re

sult

of a

refe

rral

from

one

ag

ency

with

in N

EDA

to a

noth

er. T

hese

re

ferr

als i

nclu

de th

e DD

G O

ffice

, TSI

S,

and

the

Serv

ices

Div

ision

.- N

EDA

said

that

the

list o

f pro

gram

s can

be

obt

aine

d fr

om D

TI.

July

28,

201

5 (S

ervi

ces

Divi

sion)

- List

of c

onsu

ltatio

ns d

one

re: A

EC 2

015

- Mat

eria

ls us

ed d

urin

g th

e co

nsul

tatio

ns- S

umm

ary

repo

rt o

f find

ings

fr

om th

ose

cons

ulta

tions

- Upd

ates

on

AFAS

9 a

nd 1

0

1 ca

ll2

Refe

rral

to D

TI a

nd D

OLE

vi

a em

ail

- The

refe

rral

app

lies t

o al

l doc

umen

ts

exce

pt th

e up

date

s on

the

AFAS

9 a

nd

10. T

hose

are

not

yet

ava

ilabl

e.

Depa

rtm

ent o

f Ag

ricul

ture

July

9, 2

015

- List

of c

onsu

ltatio

ns d

one

re: A

EC 2

015

- Mat

eria

ls us

ed d

urin

g th

e co

nsul

tatio

ns- S

umm

ary

repo

rt o

f find

ings

fr

om th

ose

cons

ulta

tions

Non

e6

Rece

ived

all

docu

men

ts

requ

este

d vi

a em

ail

- Afte

r I se

nt th

e re

ques

t lett

er, t

he

depa

rtm

ent s

ent a

ll th

e do

cum

ents

I ne

ed a

fter a

wee

k (w

ithou

t the

nee

d fo

r fo

llow

-up

calls

/lette

rs)

- The

y al

so in

vite

d AE

R to

join

thei

r gro

up

of N

GOs t

hat t

hey

cons

ult r

e: A

SEAN

and

tr

ade

matt

ers

Depa

rtm

ent o

f Lab

or

and

Empl

oym

ent

July

28,

201

5- L

ist o

f con

sulta

tions

don

e re

: AEC

201

5- M

ater

ials

used

dur

ing

the

cons

ulta

tions

- Sum

mar

y re

port

of fi

ndin

gs

from

thos

e co

nsul

tatio

ns

5 ca

lls7

(on-

goin

g)Th

e La

bor

Com

mun

icati

ons O

ffice

(L

CO) a

sked

me

to

chec

k th

eir w

ebsit

e ne

ws a

rticl

es fo

r the

in

form

ation

I ne

ed. T

hey

said

to c

all b

ack

if I c

an’t

find

them

.

- Out

of t

he 5

follo

w-u

p ca

lls, w

e w

ere

dire

cted

to 4

diff

eren

t bur

eaus

w

ithin

the

depa

rtm

ent.

It in

clud

es

Inte

rnati

onal

Lab

or A

ffairs

Bur

eau,

Bu

reau

on

Labo

r Rel

ation

s (BL

R), B

urea

u of

Loc

al E

mpl

oym

ent (

BLE)

, and

the

Labo

r Com

mun

icati

ons O

ffice

(LCO

). Al

l of

them

said

that

they

don

’t ha

ve th

e in

form

ation

we

wer

e as

king

for e

xcep

t fo

r the

LCO

whi

ch a

sked

us t

o ch

eck

thei

r web

site.

How

ever

, the

web

site

does

n’t c

onta

in th

e su

mm

ary

of th

e lis

t we

need

. Also

, the

LCO

said

to c

all

agai

n, b

ecau

se th

ey w

ill a

sk th

e BL

R an

d BL

E fo

r the

info

rmati

on (b

urea

us w

ho

prev

ious

ly sa

id th

at th

ey d

on’t

have

the

info

rmati

on).

*Num

ber o

f Wor

king

Day

s inc

lude

s the

dat

e of

the

initi

al re

ques

t unti

l the

day

a re

spon

se w

as m

ade

eith

er v

ia se

ndin

g of

doc

umen

ts o

r ref

erra

l

27

Tabl

e 5

AER-

IP T

eam

FO

I Req

uest

Log

Re

port

as o

f Aug

ust 2

015

Gov

ernm

ent A

genc

yDa

te o

f Ini

tial R

eque

st/

Docu

men

ts R

eque

sted

No.

of F

ollo

w-u

p Le

tter

s/Ca

lls/

Emai

ls

No.

of W

orki

ng

Days

for

Resp

onse

Nat

ure

of R

espo

nse

Rem

arks

Depa

rtm

ent o

f For

eign

Aff

airs

Augu

st, 2

8, 2

014

- List

of a

genc

ies a

nd

poin

t per

sons

invo

lved

in

AEC

2015

matt

ers f

or th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

,- S

tatu

s of t

he P

hilip

pine

s’

AEC

com

mitm

ents

(i.e

. co

mpl

ied

with

, out

stan

ding

)

2 ca

lls a

nd 1

lette

r4

Refe

rral

to D

TI- T

he fo

llow

-up

lette

r is a

rese

ndin

g of

th

e in

itial

requ

est b

ecau

se D

FA lo

st it

in

our fi

rst s

endi

ng- W

hile

DTI

hol

ds in

form

ation

on

ASEA

N m

atter

s, it

is u

nkno

wn

why

DF

A, th

e de

part

men

t in-

char

ge o

f AS

EAN

rela

tions

, was

n’t a

ble

to p

rovi

de

docu

men

ts re

gard

ing

the

stru

ctur

e of

th

e bo

dy d

ealin

g w

ith A

SEAN

affa

irs.

Depa

rtm

ent o

f Tra

de

and

Indu

stry

Augu

st 2

8, 2

014

(IDTP

G/AS

ec O

ffice

)- L

ist o

f age

ncie

s and

po

int p

erso

ns in

volv

ed in

AE

C 20

15 m

atter

s for

the

Phili

ppin

es- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of

the

Phili

ppin

es’ A

EC

com

mitm

ents

(i.e

. com

plie

d w

ith, o

utst

andi

ng)

- List

of p

rogr

ams

(con

sulta

tions

, etc

.) to

pr

epar

e in

dust

ry a

nd

wor

kers

for A

EC 2

015

- List

and

cop

ies o

f co

mpl

eted

and

on-

goin

g im

pact

stud

ies r

elat

ed to

AE

C 20

15- A

sses

smen

t Pap

er o

n in

dust

ry p

repa

redn

ess f

or

2015

- List

and

stat

us o

f im

plem

enta

tion

of

com

plet

ed m

utua

l re

cogn

ition

arr

ange

men

ts

(MRA

s)- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of o

n-go

ing

MRA

neg

otiati

ons

8 ca

lls a

nd 1

lette

r42

Rece

ived

par

tial

docu

men

ts v

ia e

mai

l in

clud

ing:

- List

of a

genc

ies a

nd

poin

t per

sons

invo

lved

in

AEC

2015

matt

ers f

or th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

- List

of p

rogr

ams t

o pr

epar

e in

dust

ry a

nd

wor

kers

for A

EC 2

015

- List

and

cop

ies o

f co

mpl

eted

and

on-

goin

g im

pact

stud

ies r

elat

ed to

AE

C 20

15As

sess

men

t Pap

er o

n in

dust

ry p

repa

redn

ess f

or

2015

- DTI

invi

ted

us in

a m

eetin

g w

ith A

Sec.

Pe

rry

Rodo

lfo la

st S

epte

mbe

r 15,

201

4 (1

2 w

orki

ng d

ays a

fter i

nitia

l req

uest

). In

the

mee

ting,

they

pre

sent

ed a

PPT

w

here

som

e of

the

info

rmati

on w

e ne

eded

wer

e sh

own.

- The

info

rmati

on w

e re

ceiv

ed c

omes

in

the

form

of t

he P

PT p

rese

nted

dur

ing

the

mee

ting.

- For

the

list o

f age

ncie

s and

poi

nt

pers

ons,

they

ask

ed u

s to

find

AO 2

0,

whi

ch is

eas

ily a

cces

sed

in th

e in

tern

et.

- Afte

r the

initi

al m

eetin

g, th

e re

ceip

t of

the

PPT

was

qui

te lo

ng d

ue to

reas

ons

that

incl

ude

wai

ting

for a

ppro

val o

f the

hi

gher

-ups

in th

eir o

ffice

. Afte

r we

sent

a

follo

w-u

p le

tter,

we

imm

edia

tely

got

th

e PP

T.

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(IDTP

G/AS

ec O

ffice

)- L

ist o

f age

ncie

s and

po

int p

erso

ns in

volv

ed in

AE

C 20

15 m

atter

s for

the

Phili

ppin

es- S

tatu

s of t

he P

hilip

pine

s’

AEC

com

mitm

ents

(i.e

. co

mpl

ied

with

, out

stan

ding

)

7 ca

lls a

nd 1

fo

llow

-up

lette

r38

Rece

ived

par

tial

docu

men

ts v

ia e

mai

l in

clud

ing:

- List

of a

genc

ies a

nd

poin

t per

sons

invo

lved

in

AEC

2015

matt

ers f

or th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

- Thi

s is a

refe

rral

from

ear

lier r

eque

st to

DF

A.- T

he fo

llow

-up

lette

r her

e is

the

sam

e as

that

in A

ugus

t 28

(we

mer

ged

the

requ

ests

alre

ady)

.- A

s for

oth

er re

mar

ks, p

erta

in to

the

resu

lts fr

om th

e Au

gust

28

requ

est.

Oct

ober

29,

201

4 (B

oard

of

Inve

stm

ent)

- Fra

mew

ork

docu

men

t for

ch

oosin

g se

ctor

/indu

stry

- Tem

plat

e fo

r reg

iona

l ro

adm

aps

- Doc

umen

ts o

n th

e EP

G m

eetin

g/s

- Man

ufac

turin

g Re

surg

ence

Pl

an

1 ca

ll5

Rece

ived

all

docu

men

ts

via

emai

l- T

his i

s a fo

llow

-up

requ

est a

fter w

e ha

d a

roun

dtab

le d

iscus

sion

with

ASe

c. F

ita

Alda

ba.

- Her

offi

ce re

ferr

ed u

s to

the

Boar

d of

In

vest

men

ts (B

OI).

- We

got t

he d

ocum

ents

afte

r one

(1)

follo

w-u

p ca

ll on

ly.- T

he E

PG m

eetin

g w

as n

ot g

iven

be

caus

e th

ere’

s no

mee

ting

yet.

Janu

ary

30, 2

014–

Pre

sent

(IDTP

G/AS

ec O

ffice

)- L

ist o

f con

sulta

tions

don

e re

: AEC

201

5- M

ater

ials

used

dur

ing

the

cons

ulta

tions

- Sum

mar

y re

port

of fi

ndin

gs

from

thos

e co

nsul

tatio

ns

13 c

alls

136

On-

goin

g- T

his i

s our

seco

nd a

ttem

pt to

get

do

cum

ents

from

DTI

.- T

his ti

me

arou

nd, r

espo

nses

wer

e a

lot

mor

e di

fficu

lt to

get

(the

con

tact

per

son

alw

ays s

ays t

o fo

llow

-up,

but

to n

o av

ail).

Hous

e of

Re

pres

enta

tives

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(Indi

vidu

al O

ffice

s of

Reps

. Wal

den

Bello

, Ruf

us

Rodr

igue

z, W

inst

on C

aste

lo,

Mar

ia L

ourd

es A

cost

a-Al

ba,

Emm

i de

Jesu

s, L

eah

Paqu

iz)- H

ouse

Res

oluti

ons 3

75,

452,

612

, 666

, 746

, 760

, and

13

13- P

rivile

ge S

peec

h 13

and

76

20 c

alls

59Al

l doc

umen

ts w

ere

obta

ined

via

em

ail a

nd

fax

- I a

ggre

gate

d th

e ca

lls m

ade

to a

ll th

ese

indi

vidu

al o

ffice

s bec

ause

they

wer

e ju

st

mer

e ph

one

calls

(no

lette

r was

sent

).- I

t is i

mpo

rtan

t to

note

that

the

59 d

ays

repr

esen

t the

num

ber o

f wor

king

day

s ne

eded

to g

et a

ll do

cum

ents

. How

ever

, th

ere

wer

e offi

ces w

ho su

bmitt

ed th

e ne

eded

doc

umen

ts e

arlie

r (so

me

just

aft

er a

day

, som

e aft

er so

me

num

ber

of w

eeks

). U

nfor

tuna

tely,

dat

a on

eac

h sp

ecifi

c offi

ce w

ere

not r

ecor

ded.

- Som

e se

nt th

eir H

Rs v

ia e

mai

l and

so

me

via

fax.

- It’s

impo

rtan

t to

note

that

som

e offi

ces

foun

d it

easie

r to

just

send

the

HR a

nd

PS. T

he o

ther

s had

to w

ait f

or th

eir

high

er-u

p’s a

ppro

val –

a si

gn o

f non

-un

iform

ity in

giv

ing

out d

ocum

ents

to

the

publ

ic.

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(Eco

nom

ic A

ffairs

Co

mm

ittee

)- M

inut

es o

f the

Aug

ust 2

6,

2014

Mee

ting

on H

ouse

Re

solu

tions

666

and

746

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 5,

2014

Mee

ting

(Pre

sent

ation

on

the

com

mitm

ents

to

the

AEC

in re

latio

n to

agr

icul

ture

, tra

de

and

indu

stry

, and

SM

E de

velo

pmen

t); a

nd c

opie

s of

pap

ers/

subm

issio

ns b

y re

sour

ce p

erso

ns- M

inut

es o

f the

May

27,

20

14 M

eetin

g on

Hou

se

Reso

lutio

ns 6

66 a

nd 7

46;

and

brie

fing

pape

rs/

pres

enta

tions

subm

itted

by

DFA

and

DTI

- Min

utes

of N

ovem

ber 2

7,

2013

Mee

ting

(Brie

fing

by

the

PEZA

on

the

stat

us o

f ec

ozon

es);

and

a co

py o

f the

br

iefin

g pa

per/

pres

enta

tion

subm

itted

by

PEZA

4 ca

lls59

Parti

al d

ocum

ents

wer

e re

ceiv

ed (h

ardc

opy)

in

clud

ing:

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 26

, 201

4 M

eetin

g on

Ho

use

Reso

lutio

ns 6

66

and

746

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 5,

201

4 M

eetin

g (P

rese

ntati

on o

n th

e co

mm

itmen

ts to

the

AEC

in re

latio

n to

agr

icul

ture

, tr

ade

and

indu

stry

, and

SM

E de

velo

pmen

t);

and

copi

es o

f pap

ers/

subm

issio

ns b

y re

sour

ce

pers

ons

- Min

utes

of t

he M

ay 2

7,

2014

Mee

ting

on H

ouse

Re

solu

tions

666

and

746

; an

d br

iefin

g pa

pers

/pr

esen

tatio

ns su

bmitt

ed

by D

FA a

nd D

TI

- We

got t

he d

ocum

ents

by

goin

g to

a m

eetin

g of

the

com

mitt

ee la

st

Nov

embe

r, 20

14

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(For

eign

Aff

airs

Com

mitt

ee)

- Min

utes

of t

he Ju

ne 9

, 20

14 M

eetin

g (B

riefin

g by

DFA

on

the

ASEA

N

Inte

grati

on 2

015)

and

co

py o

f brie

fing

pape

r/pr

esen

tatio

n su

bmitt

ed b

y DF

A

3 ca

lls a

nd 1

lette

r31

Rece

ived

the

docu

men

t re

ques

ted

via

emai

l- T

hey

lost

the

initi

al le

tter s

ent s

o w

e ha

d to

rese

nd it

.

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(Tra

de

and

Indu

stry

Com

mitt

ee)

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 26,

20

14 M

eetin

g on

Hou

se

Reso

lutio

ns 6

66 a

nd 7

46- M

inut

es o

f the

Aug

ust 5

, 20

14 M

eetin

g (P

rese

ntati

on

on th

e co

mm

itmen

ts

to th

e AE

C in

rela

tion

to a

gric

ultu

re, t

rade

an

d in

dust

ry, a

nd S

ME

deve

lopm

ent)

; and

cop

ies

of p

aper

s/su

bmiss

ions

by

reso

urce

per

sons

- Min

utes

of t

he M

ay 2

7,

2014

Mee

ting

on H

ouse

Re

solu

tions

666

and

746

; an

d br

iefin

g pa

pers

/pr

esen

tatio

ns su

bmitt

ed b

y DF

A an

d DT

I- M

inut

es o

f Nov

embe

r 27,

20

13 M

eetin

g (B

riefin

g by

th

e PE

ZA o

n th

e st

atus

of

ecoz

ones

); an

d a

copy

of t

he

brie

fing

pape

r/pr

esen

tatio

n su

bmitt

ed b

y PE

ZA

1 ca

ll6

Refe

rral

to H

oR E

cono

mic

Aff

airs

Com

mitt

ee v

ia

emai

l

- The

doc

umen

ts w

e re

ques

ted

simul

tane

ously

to th

e Ho

R Ec

onom

ic

Affai

rs a

nd T

rade

& In

dust

ry C

omm

ittee

s ar

e th

e sa

me.

- The

y sa

id th

e Ec

onom

ic A

ffairs

Co

mm

ittee

is th

e le

ad c

omm

ittee

on

the

matt

er.

Nati

onal

Eco

nom

ic

Deve

lopm

ent A

utho

rity

Oct

ober

30,

201

4 (O

ffice

of

the

Dire

ctor

-Gen

eral

)- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of

com

mitm

ents

mad

e by

the

Phili

ppin

es to

the

ASEA

N

Fram

ewor

k Ag

reem

ent o

n Se

rvic

es (A

FAS)

- List

and

stat

us o

f co

mm

itmen

ts m

ade

by th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

on

inve

stm

ents

, as

spec

ific

in th

e AE

C 20

15

Prio

rity

Actio

ns- L

ist a

nd c

opie

s of

com

plet

ed a

nd o

n-go

ing

impa

ct st

udie

s rel

ated

to

thes

e co

mm

itmen

ts- L

ist o

f pro

gram

s (c

onsu

ltatio

ns, e

tc.)

unde

rtak

en a

nd/o

r pla

nned

fo

r the

pre

para

tion

of

pote

ntial

ly a

ffect

ed

indu

strie

s and

wor

kers

13 c

alls

36Re

ceiv

ed p

artia

l do

cum

ents

via

em

ail

from

the

Serv

ices

Div

ision

in

clud

ing:

- List

and

stat

us o

f co

mm

itmen

ts m

ade

by th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

to

the

ASEA

N F

ram

ewor

k Ag

reem

ent o

n Se

rvic

es

(AFA

S)- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of

com

mitm

ents

mad

e by

the

Phili

ppin

es o

n in

vest

men

ts, a

s spe

cific

in

the

AEC

2015

Prio

rity

Actio

ns- L

ist a

nd c

opie

s of

com

plet

ed a

nd o

n-go

ing

impa

ct st

udie

s rel

ated

to

thes

e co

mm

itmen

ts

- Out

of t

he 1

3 ca

lls, t

here

wer

e ca

lls

mad

e as

a re

sult

of a

refe

rral

from

one

ag

ency

with

in N

EDA

to a

noth

er. T

hese

re

ferr

als i

nclu

de th

e DD

G O

ffice

, TSI

S,

and

the

Serv

ices

Div

ision

.- N

EDA

said

that

the

list o

f pro

gram

s can

be

obt

aine

d fr

om D

TI.

July

28,

201

5 (S

ervi

ces

Divi

sion)

- List

of c

onsu

ltatio

ns d

one

re: A

EC 2

015

- Mat

eria

ls us

ed d

urin

g th

e co

nsul

tatio

ns- S

umm

ary

repo

rt o

f find

ings

fr

om th

ose

cons

ulta

tions

- Upd

ates

on

AFAS

9 a

nd 1

0

1 ca

ll2

Refe

rral

to D

TI a

nd D

OLE

vi

a em

ail

- The

refe

rral

app

lies t

o al

l doc

umen

ts

exce

pt th

e up

date

s on

the

AFAS

9 a

nd

10. T

hose

are

not

yet

ava

ilabl

e.

Depa

rtm

ent o

f Ag

ricul

ture

July

9, 2

015

- List

of c

onsu

ltatio

ns d

one

re: A

EC 2

015

- Mat

eria

ls us

ed d

urin

g th

e co

nsul

tatio

ns- S

umm

ary

repo

rt o

f find

ings

fr

om th

ose

cons

ulta

tions

Non

e6

Rece

ived

all

docu

men

ts

requ

este

d vi

a em

ail

- Afte

r I se

nt th

e re

ques

t lett

er, t

he

depa

rtm

ent s

ent a

ll th

e do

cum

ents

I ne

ed a

fter a

wee

k (w

ithou

t the

nee

d fo

r fo

llow

-up

calls

/lette

rs)

- The

y al

so in

vite

d AE

R to

join

thei

r gro

up

of N

GOs t

hat t

hey

cons

ult r

e: A

SEAN

and

tr

ade

matt

ers

Depa

rtm

ent o

f Lab

or

and

Empl

oym

ent

July

28,

201

5- L

ist o

f con

sulta

tions

don

e re

: AEC

201

5- M

ater

ials

used

dur

ing

the

cons

ulta

tions

- Sum

mar

y re

port

of fi

ndin

gs

from

thos

e co

nsul

tatio

ns

5 ca

lls7

(on-

goin

g)Th

e La

bor

Com

mun

icati

ons O

ffice

(L

CO) a

sked

me

to

chec

k th

eir w

ebsit

e ne

ws a

rticl

es fo

r the

in

form

ation

I ne

ed. T

hey

said

to c

all b

ack

if I c

an’t

find

them

.

- Out

of t

he 5

follo

w-u

p ca

lls, w

e w

ere

dire

cted

to 4

diff

eren

t bur

eaus

w

ithin

the

depa

rtm

ent.

It in

clud

es

Inte

rnati

onal

Lab

or A

ffairs

Bur

eau,

Bu

reau

on

Labo

r Rel

ation

s (BL

R), B

urea

u of

Loc

al E

mpl

oym

ent (

BLE)

, and

the

Labo

r Com

mun

icati

ons O

ffice

(LCO

). Al

l of

them

said

that

they

don

’t ha

ve th

e in

form

ation

we

wer

e as

king

for e

xcep

t fo

r the

LCO

whi

ch a

sked

us t

o ch

eck

thei

r web

site.

How

ever

, the

web

site

does

n’t c

onta

in th

e su

mm

ary

of th

e lis

t we

need

. Also

, the

LCO

said

to c

all

agai

n, b

ecau

se th

ey w

ill a

sk th

e BL

R an

d BL

E fo

r the

info

rmati

on (b

urea

us w

ho

prev

ious

ly sa

id th

at th

ey d

on’t

have

the

info

rmati

on).

*Num

ber o

f Wor

king

Day

s inc

lude

s the

dat

e of

the

initi

al re

ques

t unti

l the

day

a re

spon

se w

as m

ade

eith

er v

ia se

ndin

g of

doc

umen

ts o

r ref

erra

l

28

Tabl

e 5

AER-

IP T

eam

FO

I Req

uest

Log

Re

port

as o

f Aug

ust 2

015

Gov

ernm

ent A

genc

yDa

te o

f Ini

tial R

eque

st/

Docu

men

ts R

eque

sted

No.

of F

ollo

w-u

p Le

tter

s/Ca

lls/

Emai

ls

No.

of W

orki

ng

Days

for

Resp

onse

Nat

ure

of R

espo

nse

Rem

arks

Depa

rtm

ent o

f For

eign

Aff

airs

Augu

st, 2

8, 2

014

- List

of a

genc

ies a

nd

poin

t per

sons

invo

lved

in

AEC

2015

matt

ers f

or th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

,- S

tatu

s of t

he P

hilip

pine

s’

AEC

com

mitm

ents

(i.e

. co

mpl

ied

with

, out

stan

ding

)

2 ca

lls a

nd 1

lette

r4

Refe

rral

to D

TI- T

he fo

llow

-up

lette

r is a

rese

ndin

g of

th

e in

itial

requ

est b

ecau

se D

FA lo

st it

in

our fi

rst s

endi

ng- W

hile

DTI

hol

ds in

form

ation

on

ASEA

N m

atter

s, it

is u

nkno

wn

why

DF

A, th

e de

part

men

t in-

char

ge o

f AS

EAN

rela

tions

, was

n’t a

ble

to p

rovi

de

docu

men

ts re

gard

ing

the

stru

ctur

e of

th

e bo

dy d

ealin

g w

ith A

SEAN

affa

irs.

Depa

rtm

ent o

f Tra

de

and

Indu

stry

Augu

st 2

8, 2

014

(IDTP

G/AS

ec O

ffice

)- L

ist o

f age

ncie

s and

po

int p

erso

ns in

volv

ed in

AE

C 20

15 m

atter

s for

the

Phili

ppin

es- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of

the

Phili

ppin

es’ A

EC

com

mitm

ents

(i.e

. com

plie

d w

ith, o

utst

andi

ng)

- List

of p

rogr

ams

(con

sulta

tions

, etc

.) to

pr

epar

e in

dust

ry a

nd

wor

kers

for A

EC 2

015

- List

and

cop

ies o

f co

mpl

eted

and

on-

goin

g im

pact

stud

ies r

elat

ed to

AE

C 20

15- A

sses

smen

t Pap

er o

n in

dust

ry p

repa

redn

ess f

or

2015

- List

and

stat

us o

f im

plem

enta

tion

of

com

plet

ed m

utua

l re

cogn

ition

arr

ange

men

ts

(MRA

s)- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of o

n-go

ing

MRA

neg

otiati

ons

8 ca

lls a

nd 1

lette

r42

Rece

ived

par

tial

docu

men

ts v

ia e

mai

l in

clud

ing:

- List

of a

genc

ies a

nd

poin

t per

sons

invo

lved

in

AEC

2015

matt

ers f

or th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

- List

of p

rogr

ams t

o pr

epar

e in

dust

ry a

nd

wor

kers

for A

EC 2

015

- List

and

cop

ies o

f co

mpl

eted

and

on-

goin

g im

pact

stud

ies r

elat

ed to

AE

C 20

15As

sess

men

t Pap

er o

n in

dust

ry p

repa

redn

ess f

or

2015

- DTI

invi

ted

us in

a m

eetin

g w

ith A

Sec.

Pe

rry

Rodo

lfo la

st S

epte

mbe

r 15,

201

4 (1

2 w

orki

ng d

ays a

fter i

nitia

l req

uest

). In

the

mee

ting,

they

pre

sent

ed a

PPT

w

here

som

e of

the

info

rmati

on w

e ne

eded

wer

e sh

own.

- The

info

rmati

on w

e re

ceiv

ed c

omes

in

the

form

of t

he P

PT p

rese

nted

dur

ing

the

mee

ting.

- For

the

list o

f age

ncie

s and

poi

nt

pers

ons,

they

ask

ed u

s to

find

AO 2

0,

whi

ch is

eas

ily a

cces

sed

in th

e in

tern

et.

- Afte

r the

initi

al m

eetin

g, th

e re

ceip

t of

the

PPT

was

qui

te lo

ng d

ue to

reas

ons

that

incl

ude

wai

ting

for a

ppro

val o

f the

hi

gher

-ups

in th

eir o

ffice

. Afte

r we

sent

a

follo

w-u

p le

tter,

we

imm

edia

tely

got

th

e PP

T.

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(IDTP

G/AS

ec O

ffice

)- L

ist o

f age

ncie

s and

po

int p

erso

ns in

volv

ed in

AE

C 20

15 m

atter

s for

the

Phili

ppin

es- S

tatu

s of t

he P

hilip

pine

s’

AEC

com

mitm

ents

(i.e

. co

mpl

ied

with

, out

stan

ding

)

7 ca

lls a

nd 1

fo

llow

-up

lette

r38

Rece

ived

par

tial

docu

men

ts v

ia e

mai

l in

clud

ing:

- List

of a

genc

ies a

nd

poin

t per

sons

invo

lved

in

AEC

2015

matt

ers f

or th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

- Thi

s is a

refe

rral

from

ear

lier r

eque

st to

DF

A.- T

he fo

llow

-up

lette

r her

e is

the

sam

e as

that

in A

ugus

t 28

(we

mer

ged

the

requ

ests

alre

ady)

.- A

s for

oth

er re

mar

ks, p

erta

in to

the

resu

lts fr

om th

e Au

gust

28

requ

est.

Oct

ober

29,

201

4 (B

oard

of

Inve

stm

ent)

- Fra

mew

ork

docu

men

t for

ch

oosin

g se

ctor

/indu

stry

- Tem

plat

e fo

r reg

iona

l ro

adm

aps

- Doc

umen

ts o

n th

e EP

G m

eetin

g/s

- Man

ufac

turin

g Re

surg

ence

Pl

an

1 ca

ll5

Rece

ived

all

docu

men

ts

via

emai

l- T

his i

s a fo

llow

-up

requ

est a

fter w

e ha

d a

roun

dtab

le d

iscus

sion

with

ASe

c. F

ita

Alda

ba.

- Her

offi

ce re

ferr

ed u

s to

the

Boar

d of

In

vest

men

ts (B

OI).

- We

got t

he d

ocum

ents

afte

r one

(1)

follo

w-u

p ca

ll on

ly.- T

he E

PG m

eetin

g w

as n

ot g

iven

be

caus

e th

ere’

s no

mee

ting

yet.

Janu

ary

30, 2

014–

Pre

sent

(IDTP

G/AS

ec O

ffice

)- L

ist o

f con

sulta

tions

don

e re

: AEC

201

5- M

ater

ials

used

dur

ing

the

cons

ulta

tions

- Sum

mar

y re

port

of fi

ndin

gs

from

thos

e co

nsul

tatio

ns

13 c

alls

136

On-

goin

g- T

his i

s our

seco

nd a

ttem

pt to

get

do

cum

ents

from

DTI

.- T

his ti

me

arou

nd, r

espo

nses

wer

e a

lot

mor

e di

fficu

lt to

get

(the

con

tact

per

son

alw

ays s

ays t

o fo

llow

-up,

but

to n

o av

ail).

Hous

e of

Re

pres

enta

tives

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(Indi

vidu

al O

ffice

s of

Reps

. Wal

den

Bello

, Ruf

us

Rodr

igue

z, W

inst

on C

aste

lo,

Mar

ia L

ourd

es A

cost

a-Al

ba,

Emm

i de

Jesu

s, L

eah

Paqu

iz)- H

ouse

Res

oluti

ons 3

75,

452,

612

, 666

, 746

, 760

, and

13

13- P

rivile

ge S

peec

h 13

and

76

20 c

alls

59Al

l doc

umen

ts w

ere

obta

ined

via

em

ail a

nd

fax

- I a

ggre

gate

d th

e ca

lls m

ade

to a

ll th

ese

indi

vidu

al o

ffice

s bec

ause

they

wer

e ju

st

mer

e ph

one

calls

(no

lette

r was

sent

).- I

t is i

mpo

rtan

t to

note

that

the

59 d

ays

repr

esen

t the

num

ber o

f wor

king

day

s ne

eded

to g

et a

ll do

cum

ents

. How

ever

, th

ere

wer

e offi

ces w

ho su

bmitt

ed th

e ne

eded

doc

umen

ts e

arlie

r (so

me

just

aft

er a

day

, som

e aft

er so

me

num

ber

of w

eeks

). U

nfor

tuna

tely,

dat

a on

eac

h sp

ecifi

c offi

ce w

ere

not r

ecor

ded.

- Som

e se

nt th

eir H

Rs v

ia e

mai

l and

so

me

via

fax.

- It’s

impo

rtan

t to

note

that

som

e offi

ces

foun

d it

easie

r to

just

send

the

HR a

nd

PS. T

he o

ther

s had

to w

ait f

or th

eir

high

er-u

p’s a

ppro

val –

a si

gn o

f non

-un

iform

ity in

giv

ing

out d

ocum

ents

to

the

publ

ic.

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(Eco

nom

ic A

ffairs

Co

mm

ittee

)- M

inut

es o

f the

Aug

ust 2

6,

2014

Mee

ting

on H

ouse

Re

solu

tions

666

and

746

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 5,

2014

Mee

ting

(Pre

sent

ation

on

the

com

mitm

ents

to

the

AEC

in re

latio

n to

agr

icul

ture

, tra

de

and

indu

stry

, and

SM

E de

velo

pmen

t); a

nd c

opie

s of

pap

ers/

subm

issio

ns b

y re

sour

ce p

erso

ns- M

inut

es o

f the

May

27,

20

14 M

eetin

g on

Hou

se

Reso

lutio

ns 6

66 a

nd 7

46;

and

brie

fing

pape

rs/

pres

enta

tions

subm

itted

by

DFA

and

DTI

- Min

utes

of N

ovem

ber 2

7,

2013

Mee

ting

(Brie

fing

by

the

PEZA

on

the

stat

us o

f ec

ozon

es);

and

a co

py o

f the

br

iefin

g pa

per/

pres

enta

tion

subm

itted

by

PEZA

4 ca

lls59

Parti

al d

ocum

ents

wer

e re

ceiv

ed (h

ardc

opy)

in

clud

ing:

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 26

, 201

4 M

eetin

g on

Ho

use

Reso

lutio

ns 6

66

and

746

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 5,

201

4 M

eetin

g (P

rese

ntati

on o

n th

e co

mm

itmen

ts to

the

AEC

in re

latio

n to

agr

icul

ture

, tr

ade

and

indu

stry

, and

SM

E de

velo

pmen

t);

and

copi

es o

f pap

ers/

subm

issio

ns b

y re

sour

ce

pers

ons

- Min

utes

of t

he M

ay 2

7,

2014

Mee

ting

on H

ouse

Re

solu

tions

666

and

746

; an

d br

iefin

g pa

pers

/pr

esen

tatio

ns su

bmitt

ed

by D

FA a

nd D

TI

- We

got t

he d

ocum

ents

by

goin

g to

a m

eetin

g of

the

com

mitt

ee la

st

Nov

embe

r, 20

14

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(For

eign

Aff

airs

Com

mitt

ee)

- Min

utes

of t

he Ju

ne 9

, 20

14 M

eetin

g (B

riefin

g by

DFA

on

the

ASEA

N

Inte

grati

on 2

015)

and

co

py o

f brie

fing

pape

r/pr

esen

tatio

n su

bmitt

ed b

y DF

A

3 ca

lls a

nd 1

lette

r31

Rece

ived

the

docu

men

t re

ques

ted

via

emai

l- T

hey

lost

the

initi

al le

tter s

ent s

o w

e ha

d to

rese

nd it

.

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(Tra

de

and

Indu

stry

Com

mitt

ee)

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 26,

20

14 M

eetin

g on

Hou

se

Reso

lutio

ns 6

66 a

nd 7

46- M

inut

es o

f the

Aug

ust 5

, 20

14 M

eetin

g (P

rese

ntati

on

on th

e co

mm

itmen

ts

to th

e AE

C in

rela

tion

to a

gric

ultu

re, t

rade

an

d in

dust

ry, a

nd S

ME

deve

lopm

ent)

; and

cop

ies

of p

aper

s/su

bmiss

ions

by

reso

urce

per

sons

- Min

utes

of t

he M

ay 2

7,

2014

Mee

ting

on H

ouse

Re

solu

tions

666

and

746

; an

d br

iefin

g pa

pers

/pr

esen

tatio

ns su

bmitt

ed b

y DF

A an

d DT

I- M

inut

es o

f Nov

embe

r 27,

20

13 M

eetin

g (B

riefin

g by

th

e PE

ZA o

n th

e st

atus

of

ecoz

ones

); an

d a

copy

of t

he

brie

fing

pape

r/pr

esen

tatio

n su

bmitt

ed b

y PE

ZA

1 ca

ll6

Refe

rral

to H

oR E

cono

mic

Aff

airs

Com

mitt

ee v

ia

emai

l

- The

doc

umen

ts w

e re

ques

ted

simul

tane

ously

to th

e Ho

R Ec

onom

ic

Affai

rs a

nd T

rade

& In

dust

ry C

omm

ittee

s ar

e th

e sa

me.

- The

y sa

id th

e Ec

onom

ic A

ffairs

Co

mm

ittee

is th

e le

ad c

omm

ittee

on

the

matt

er.

Nati

onal

Eco

nom

ic

Deve

lopm

ent A

utho

rity

Oct

ober

30,

201

4 (O

ffice

of

the

Dire

ctor

-Gen

eral

)- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of

com

mitm

ents

mad

e by

the

Phili

ppin

es to

the

ASEA

N

Fram

ewor

k Ag

reem

ent o

n Se

rvic

es (A

FAS)

- List

and

stat

us o

f co

mm

itmen

ts m

ade

by th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

on

inve

stm

ents

, as

spec

ific

in th

e AE

C 20

15

Prio

rity

Actio

ns- L

ist a

nd c

opie

s of

com

plet

ed a

nd o

n-go

ing

impa

ct st

udie

s rel

ated

to

thes

e co

mm

itmen

ts- L

ist o

f pro

gram

s (c

onsu

ltatio

ns, e

tc.)

unde

rtak

en a

nd/o

r pla

nned

fo

r the

pre

para

tion

of

pote

ntial

ly a

ffect

ed

indu

strie

s and

wor

kers

13 c

alls

36Re

ceiv

ed p

artia

l do

cum

ents

via

em

ail

from

the

Serv

ices

Div

ision

in

clud

ing:

- List

and

stat

us o

f co

mm

itmen

ts m

ade

by th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

to

the

ASEA

N F

ram

ewor

k Ag

reem

ent o

n Se

rvic

es

(AFA

S)- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of

com

mitm

ents

mad

e by

the

Phili

ppin

es o

n in

vest

men

ts, a

s spe

cific

in

the

AEC

2015

Prio

rity

Actio

ns- L

ist a

nd c

opie

s of

com

plet

ed a

nd o

n-go

ing

impa

ct st

udie

s rel

ated

to

thes

e co

mm

itmen

ts

- Out

of t

he 1

3 ca

lls, t

here

wer

e ca

lls

mad

e as

a re

sult

of a

refe

rral

from

one

ag

ency

with

in N

EDA

to a

noth

er. T

hese

re

ferr

als i

nclu

de th

e DD

G O

ffice

, TSI

S,

and

the

Serv

ices

Div

ision

.- N

EDA

said

that

the

list o

f pro

gram

s can

be

obt

aine

d fr

om D

TI.

July

28,

201

5 (S

ervi

ces

Divi

sion)

- List

of c

onsu

ltatio

ns d

one

re: A

EC 2

015

- Mat

eria

ls us

ed d

urin

g th

e co

nsul

tatio

ns- S

umm

ary

repo

rt o

f find

ings

fr

om th

ose

cons

ulta

tions

- Upd

ates

on

AFAS

9 a

nd 1

0

1 ca

ll2

Refe

rral

to D

TI a

nd D

OLE

vi

a em

ail

- The

refe

rral

app

lies t

o al

l doc

umen

ts

exce

pt th

e up

date

s on

the

AFAS

9 a

nd

10. T

hose

are

not

yet

ava

ilabl

e.

Depa

rtm

ent o

f Ag

ricul

ture

July

9, 2

015

- List

of c

onsu

ltatio

ns d

one

re: A

EC 2

015

- Mat

eria

ls us

ed d

urin

g th

e co

nsul

tatio

ns- S

umm

ary

repo

rt o

f find

ings

fr

om th

ose

cons

ulta

tions

Non

e6

Rece

ived

all

docu

men

ts

requ

este

d vi

a em

ail

- Afte

r I se

nt th

e re

ques

t lett

er, t

he

depa

rtm

ent s

ent a

ll th

e do

cum

ents

I ne

ed a

fter a

wee

k (w

ithou

t the

nee

d fo

r fo

llow

-up

calls

/lette

rs)

- The

y al

so in

vite

d AE

R to

join

thei

r gro

up

of N

GOs t

hat t

hey

cons

ult r

e: A

SEAN

and

tr

ade

matt

ers

Depa

rtm

ent o

f Lab

or

and

Empl

oym

ent

July

28,

201

5- L

ist o

f con

sulta

tions

don

e re

: AEC

201

5- M

ater

ials

used

dur

ing

the

cons

ulta

tions

- Sum

mar

y re

port

of fi

ndin

gs

from

thos

e co

nsul

tatio

ns

5 ca

lls7

(on-

goin

g)Th

e La

bor

Com

mun

icati

ons O

ffice

(L

CO) a

sked

me

to

chec

k th

eir w

ebsit

e ne

ws a

rticl

es fo

r the

in

form

ation

I ne

ed. T

hey

said

to c

all b

ack

if I c

an’t

find

them

.

- Out

of t

he 5

follo

w-u

p ca

lls, w

e w

ere

dire

cted

to 4

diff

eren

t bur

eaus

w

ithin

the

depa

rtm

ent.

It in

clud

es

Inte

rnati

onal

Lab

or A

ffairs

Bur

eau,

Bu

reau

on

Labo

r Rel

ation

s (BL

R), B

urea

u of

Loc

al E

mpl

oym

ent (

BLE)

, and

the

Labo

r Com

mun

icati

ons O

ffice

(LCO

). Al

l of

them

said

that

they

don

’t ha

ve th

e in

form

ation

we

wer

e as

king

for e

xcep

t fo

r the

LCO

whi

ch a

sked

us t

o ch

eck

thei

r web

site.

How

ever

, the

web

site

does

n’t c

onta

in th

e su

mm

ary

of th

e lis

t we

need

. Also

, the

LCO

said

to c

all

agai

n, b

ecau

se th

ey w

ill a

sk th

e BL

R an

d BL

E fo

r the

info

rmati

on (b

urea

us w

ho

prev

ious

ly sa

id th

at th

ey d

on’t

have

the

info

rmati

on).

*Num

ber o

f Wor

king

Day

s inc

lude

s the

dat

e of

the

initi

al re

ques

t unti

l the

day

a re

spon

se w

as m

ade

eith

er v

ia se

ndin

g of

doc

umen

ts o

r ref

erra

l

Tabl

e 5

AER-

IP T

eam

FO

I Req

uest

Log

Re

port

as o

f Aug

ust 2

015

Gov

ernm

ent A

genc

yDa

te o

f Ini

tial R

eque

st/

Docu

men

ts R

eque

sted

No.

of F

ollo

w-u

p Le

tter

s/Ca

lls/

Emai

ls

No.

of W

orki

ng

Days

for

Resp

onse

Nat

ure

of R

espo

nse

Rem

arks

Depa

rtm

ent o

f For

eign

Aff

airs

Augu

st, 2

8, 2

014

- List

of a

genc

ies a

nd

poin

t per

sons

invo

lved

in

AEC

2015

matt

ers f

or th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

,- S

tatu

s of t

he P

hilip

pine

s’

AEC

com

mitm

ents

(i.e

. co

mpl

ied

with

, out

stan

ding

)

2 ca

lls a

nd 1

lette

r4

Refe

rral

to D

TI- T

he fo

llow

-up

lette

r is a

rese

ndin

g of

th

e in

itial

requ

est b

ecau

se D

FA lo

st it

in

our fi

rst s

endi

ng- W

hile

DTI

hol

ds in

form

ation

on

ASEA

N m

atter

s, it

is u

nkno

wn

why

DF

A, th

e de

part

men

t in-

char

ge o

f AS

EAN

rela

tions

, was

n’t a

ble

to p

rovi

de

docu

men

ts re

gard

ing

the

stru

ctur

e of

th

e bo

dy d

ealin

g w

ith A

SEAN

affa

irs.

Depa

rtm

ent o

f Tra

de

and

Indu

stry

Augu

st 2

8, 2

014

(IDTP

G/AS

ec O

ffice

)- L

ist o

f age

ncie

s and

po

int p

erso

ns in

volv

ed in

AE

C 20

15 m

atter

s for

the

Phili

ppin

es- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of

the

Phili

ppin

es’ A

EC

com

mitm

ents

(i.e

. com

plie

d w

ith, o

utst

andi

ng)

- List

of p

rogr

ams

(con

sulta

tions

, etc

.) to

pr

epar

e in

dust

ry a

nd

wor

kers

for A

EC 2

015

- List

and

cop

ies o

f co

mpl

eted

and

on-

goin

g im

pact

stud

ies r

elat

ed to

AE

C 20

15- A

sses

smen

t Pap

er o

n in

dust

ry p

repa

redn

ess f

or

2015

- List

and

stat

us o

f im

plem

enta

tion

of

com

plet

ed m

utua

l re

cogn

ition

arr

ange

men

ts

(MRA

s)- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of o

n-go

ing

MRA

neg

otiati

ons

8 ca

lls a

nd 1

lette

r42

Rece

ived

par

tial

docu

men

ts v

ia e

mai

l in

clud

ing:

- List

of a

genc

ies a

nd

poin

t per

sons

invo

lved

in

AEC

2015

matt

ers f

or th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

- List

of p

rogr

ams t

o pr

epar

e in

dust

ry a

nd

wor

kers

for A

EC 2

015

- List

and

cop

ies o

f co

mpl

eted

and

on-

goin

g im

pact

stud

ies r

elat

ed to

AE

C 20

15As

sess

men

t Pap

er o

n in

dust

ry p

repa

redn

ess f

or

2015

- DTI

invi

ted

us in

a m

eetin

g w

ith A

Sec.

Pe

rry

Rodo

lfo la

st S

epte

mbe

r 15,

201

4 (1

2 w

orki

ng d

ays a

fter i

nitia

l req

uest

). In

the

mee

ting,

they

pre

sent

ed a

PPT

w

here

som

e of

the

info

rmati

on w

e ne

eded

wer

e sh

own.

- The

info

rmati

on w

e re

ceiv

ed c

omes

in

the

form

of t

he P

PT p

rese

nted

dur

ing

the

mee

ting.

- For

the

list o

f age

ncie

s and

poi

nt

pers

ons,

they

ask

ed u

s to

find

AO 2

0,

whi

ch is

eas

ily a

cces

sed

in th

e in

tern

et.

- Afte

r the

initi

al m

eetin

g, th

e re

ceip

t of

the

PPT

was

qui

te lo

ng d

ue to

reas

ons

that

incl

ude

wai

ting

for a

ppro

val o

f the

hi

gher

-ups

in th

eir o

ffice

. Afte

r we

sent

a

follo

w-u

p le

tter,

we

imm

edia

tely

got

th

e PP

T.

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(IDTP

G/AS

ec O

ffice

)- L

ist o

f age

ncie

s and

po

int p

erso

ns in

volv

ed in

AE

C 20

15 m

atter

s for

the

Phili

ppin

es- S

tatu

s of t

he P

hilip

pine

s’

AEC

com

mitm

ents

(i.e

. co

mpl

ied

with

, out

stan

ding

)

7 ca

lls a

nd 1

fo

llow

-up

lette

r38

Rece

ived

par

tial

docu

men

ts v

ia e

mai

l in

clud

ing:

- List

of a

genc

ies a

nd

poin

t per

sons

invo

lved

in

AEC

2015

matt

ers f

or th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

- Thi

s is a

refe

rral

from

ear

lier r

eque

st to

DF

A.- T

he fo

llow

-up

lette

r her

e is

the

sam

e as

that

in A

ugus

t 28

(we

mer

ged

the

requ

ests

alre

ady)

.- A

s for

oth

er re

mar

ks, p

erta

in to

the

resu

lts fr

om th

e Au

gust

28

requ

est.

Oct

ober

29,

201

4 (B

oard

of

Inve

stm

ent)

- Fra

mew

ork

docu

men

t for

ch

oosin

g se

ctor

/indu

stry

- Tem

plat

e fo

r reg

iona

l ro

adm

aps

- Doc

umen

ts o

n th

e EP

G m

eetin

g/s

- Man

ufac

turin

g Re

surg

ence

Pl

an

1 ca

ll5

Rece

ived

all

docu

men

ts

via

emai

l- T

his i

s a fo

llow

-up

requ

est a

fter w

e ha

d a

roun

dtab

le d

iscus

sion

with

ASe

c. F

ita

Alda

ba.

- Her

offi

ce re

ferr

ed u

s to

the

Boar

d of

In

vest

men

ts (B

OI).

- We

got t

he d

ocum

ents

afte

r one

(1)

follo

w-u

p ca

ll on

ly.- T

he E

PG m

eetin

g w

as n

ot g

iven

be

caus

e th

ere’

s no

mee

ting

yet.

Janu

ary

30, 2

014–

Pre

sent

(IDTP

G/AS

ec O

ffice

)- L

ist o

f con

sulta

tions

don

e re

: AEC

201

5- M

ater

ials

used

dur

ing

the

cons

ulta

tions

- Sum

mar

y re

port

of fi

ndin

gs

from

thos

e co

nsul

tatio

ns

13 c

alls

136

On-

goin

g- T

his i

s our

seco

nd a

ttem

pt to

get

do

cum

ents

from

DTI

.- T

his ti

me

arou

nd, r

espo

nses

wer

e a

lot

mor

e di

fficu

lt to

get

(the

con

tact

per

son

alw

ays s

ays t

o fo

llow

-up,

but

to n

o av

ail).

Hous

e of

Re

pres

enta

tives

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(Indi

vidu

al O

ffice

s of

Reps

. Wal

den

Bello

, Ruf

us

Rodr

igue

z, W

inst

on C

aste

lo,

Mar

ia L

ourd

es A

cost

a-Al

ba,

Emm

i de

Jesu

s, L

eah

Paqu

iz)- H

ouse

Res

oluti

ons 3

75,

452,

612

, 666

, 746

, 760

, and

13

13- P

rivile

ge S

peec

h 13

and

76

20 c

alls

59Al

l doc

umen

ts w

ere

obta

ined

via

em

ail a

nd

fax

- I a

ggre

gate

d th

e ca

lls m

ade

to a

ll th

ese

indi

vidu

al o

ffice

s bec

ause

they

wer

e ju

st

mer

e ph

one

calls

(no

lette

r was

sent

).- I

t is i

mpo

rtan

t to

note

that

the

59 d

ays

repr

esen

t the

num

ber o

f wor

king

day

s ne

eded

to g

et a

ll do

cum

ents

. How

ever

, th

ere

wer

e offi

ces w

ho su

bmitt

ed th

e ne

eded

doc

umen

ts e

arlie

r (so

me

just

aft

er a

day

, som

e aft

er so

me

num

ber

of w

eeks

). U

nfor

tuna

tely,

dat

a on

eac

h sp

ecifi

c offi

ce w

ere

not r

ecor

ded.

- Som

e se

nt th

eir H

Rs v

ia e

mai

l and

so

me

via

fax.

- It’s

impo

rtan

t to

note

that

som

e offi

ces

foun

d it

easie

r to

just

send

the

HR a

nd

PS. T

he o

ther

s had

to w

ait f

or th

eir

high

er-u

p’s a

ppro

val –

a si

gn o

f non

-un

iform

ity in

giv

ing

out d

ocum

ents

to

the

publ

ic.

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(Eco

nom

ic A

ffairs

Co

mm

ittee

)- M

inut

es o

f the

Aug

ust 2

6,

2014

Mee

ting

on H

ouse

Re

solu

tions

666

and

746

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 5,

2014

Mee

ting

(Pre

sent

ation

on

the

com

mitm

ents

to

the

AEC

in re

latio

n to

agr

icul

ture

, tra

de

and

indu

stry

, and

SM

E de

velo

pmen

t); a

nd c

opie

s of

pap

ers/

subm

issio

ns b

y re

sour

ce p

erso

ns- M

inut

es o

f the

May

27,

20

14 M

eetin

g on

Hou

se

Reso

lutio

ns 6

66 a

nd 7

46;

and

brie

fing

pape

rs/

pres

enta

tions

subm

itted

by

DFA

and

DTI

- Min

utes

of N

ovem

ber 2

7,

2013

Mee

ting

(Brie

fing

by

the

PEZA

on

the

stat

us o

f ec

ozon

es);

and

a co

py o

f the

br

iefin

g pa

per/

pres

enta

tion

subm

itted

by

PEZA

4 ca

lls59

Parti

al d

ocum

ents

wer

e re

ceiv

ed (h

ardc

opy)

in

clud

ing:

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 26

, 201

4 M

eetin

g on

Ho

use

Reso

lutio

ns 6

66

and

746

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 5,

201

4 M

eetin

g (P

rese

ntati

on o

n th

e co

mm

itmen

ts to

the

AEC

in re

latio

n to

agr

icul

ture

, tr

ade

and

indu

stry

, and

SM

E de

velo

pmen

t);

and

copi

es o

f pap

ers/

subm

issio

ns b

y re

sour

ce

pers

ons

- Min

utes

of t

he M

ay 2

7,

2014

Mee

ting

on H

ouse

Re

solu

tions

666

and

746

; an

d br

iefin

g pa

pers

/pr

esen

tatio

ns su

bmitt

ed

by D

FA a

nd D

TI

- We

got t

he d

ocum

ents

by

goin

g to

a m

eetin

g of

the

com

mitt

ee la

st

Nov

embe

r, 20

14

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(For

eign

Aff

airs

Com

mitt

ee)

- Min

utes

of t

he Ju

ne 9

, 20

14 M

eetin

g (B

riefin

g by

DFA

on

the

ASEA

N

Inte

grati

on 2

015)

and

co

py o

f brie

fing

pape

r/pr

esen

tatio

n su

bmitt

ed b

y DF

A

3 ca

lls a

nd 1

lette

r31

Rece

ived

the

docu

men

t re

ques

ted

via

emai

l- T

hey

lost

the

initi

al le

tter s

ent s

o w

e ha

d to

rese

nd it

.

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(Tra

de

and

Indu

stry

Com

mitt

ee)

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 26,

20

14 M

eetin

g on

Hou

se

Reso

lutio

ns 6

66 a

nd 7

46- M

inut

es o

f the

Aug

ust 5

, 20

14 M

eetin

g (P

rese

ntati

on

on th

e co

mm

itmen

ts

to th

e AE

C in

rela

tion

to a

gric

ultu

re, t

rade

an

d in

dust

ry, a

nd S

ME

deve

lopm

ent)

; and

cop

ies

of p

aper

s/su

bmiss

ions

by

reso

urce

per

sons

- Min

utes

of t

he M

ay 2

7,

2014

Mee

ting

on H

ouse

Re

solu

tions

666

and

746

; an

d br

iefin

g pa

pers

/pr

esen

tatio

ns su

bmitt

ed b

y DF

A an

d DT

I- M

inut

es o

f Nov

embe

r 27,

20

13 M

eetin

g (B

riefin

g by

th

e PE

ZA o

n th

e st

atus

of

ecoz

ones

); an

d a

copy

of t

he

brie

fing

pape

r/pr

esen

tatio

n su

bmitt

ed b

y PE

ZA

1 ca

ll6

Refe

rral

to H

oR E

cono

mic

Aff

airs

Com

mitt

ee v

ia

emai

l

- The

doc

umen

ts w

e re

ques

ted

simul

tane

ously

to th

e Ho

R Ec

onom

ic

Affai

rs a

nd T

rade

& In

dust

ry C

omm

ittee

s ar

e th

e sa

me.

- The

y sa

id th

e Ec

onom

ic A

ffairs

Co

mm

ittee

is th

e le

ad c

omm

ittee

on

the

matt

er.

Nati

onal

Eco

nom

ic

Deve

lopm

ent A

utho

rity

Oct

ober

30,

201

4 (O

ffice

of

the

Dire

ctor

-Gen

eral

)- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of

com

mitm

ents

mad

e by

the

Phili

ppin

es to

the

ASEA

N

Fram

ewor

k Ag

reem

ent o

n Se

rvic

es (A

FAS)

- List

and

stat

us o

f co

mm

itmen

ts m

ade

by th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

on

inve

stm

ents

, as

spec

ific

in th

e AE

C 20

15

Prio

rity

Actio

ns- L

ist a

nd c

opie

s of

com

plet

ed a

nd o

n-go

ing

impa

ct st

udie

s rel

ated

to

thes

e co

mm

itmen

ts- L

ist o

f pro

gram

s (c

onsu

ltatio

ns, e

tc.)

unde

rtak

en a

nd/o

r pla

nned

fo

r the

pre

para

tion

of

pote

ntial

ly a

ffect

ed

indu

strie

s and

wor

kers

13 c

alls

36Re

ceiv

ed p

artia

l do

cum

ents

via

em

ail

from

the

Serv

ices

Div

ision

in

clud

ing:

- List

and

stat

us o

f co

mm

itmen

ts m

ade

by th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

to

the

ASEA

N F

ram

ewor

k Ag

reem

ent o

n Se

rvic

es

(AFA

S)- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of

com

mitm

ents

mad

e by

the

Phili

ppin

es o

n in

vest

men

ts, a

s spe

cific

in

the

AEC

2015

Prio

rity

Actio

ns- L

ist a

nd c

opie

s of

com

plet

ed a

nd o

n-go

ing

impa

ct st

udie

s rel

ated

to

thes

e co

mm

itmen

ts

- Out

of t

he 1

3 ca

lls, t

here

wer

e ca

lls

mad

e as

a re

sult

of a

refe

rral

from

one

ag

ency

with

in N

EDA

to a

noth

er. T

hese

re

ferr

als i

nclu

de th

e DD

G O

ffice

, TSI

S,

and

the

Serv

ices

Div

ision

.- N

EDA

said

that

the

list o

f pro

gram

s can

be

obt

aine

d fr

om D

TI.

July

28,

201

5 (S

ervi

ces

Divi

sion)

- List

of c

onsu

ltatio

ns d

one

re: A

EC 2

015

- Mat

eria

ls us

ed d

urin

g th

e co

nsul

tatio

ns- S

umm

ary

repo

rt o

f find

ings

fr

om th

ose

cons

ulta

tions

- Upd

ates

on

AFAS

9 a

nd 1

0

1 ca

ll2

Refe

rral

to D

TI a

nd D

OLE

vi

a em

ail

- The

refe

rral

app

lies t

o al

l doc

umen

ts

exce

pt th

e up

date

s on

the

AFAS

9 a

nd

10. T

hose

are

not

yet

ava

ilabl

e.

Depa

rtm

ent o

f Ag

ricul

ture

July

9, 2

015

- List

of c

onsu

ltatio

ns d

one

re: A

EC 2

015

- Mat

eria

ls us

ed d

urin

g th

e co

nsul

tatio

ns- S

umm

ary

repo

rt o

f find

ings

fr

om th

ose

cons

ulta

tions

Non

e6

Rece

ived

all

docu

men

ts

requ

este

d vi

a em

ail

- Afte

r I se

nt th

e re

ques

t lett

er, t

he

depa

rtm

ent s

ent a

ll th

e do

cum

ents

I ne

ed a

fter a

wee

k (w

ithou

t the

nee

d fo

r fo

llow

-up

calls

/lette

rs)

- The

y al

so in

vite

d AE

R to

join

thei

r gro

up

of N

GOs t

hat t

hey

cons

ult r

e: A

SEAN

and

tr

ade

matt

ers

Depa

rtm

ent o

f Lab

or

and

Empl

oym

ent

July

28,

201

5- L

ist o

f con

sulta

tions

don

e re

: AEC

201

5- M

ater

ials

used

dur

ing

the

cons

ulta

tions

- Sum

mar

y re

port

of fi

ndin

gs

from

thos

e co

nsul

tatio

ns

5 ca

lls7

(on-

goin

g)Th

e La

bor

Com

mun

icati

ons O

ffice

(L

CO) a

sked

me

to

chec

k th

eir w

ebsit

e ne

ws a

rticl

es fo

r the

in

form

ation

I ne

ed. T

hey

said

to c

all b

ack

if I c

an’t

find

them

.

- Out

of t

he 5

follo

w-u

p ca

lls, w

e w

ere

dire

cted

to 4

diff

eren

t bur

eaus

w

ithin

the

depa

rtm

ent.

It in

clud

es

Inte

rnati

onal

Lab

or A

ffairs

Bur

eau,

Bu

reau

on

Labo

r Rel

ation

s (BL

R), B

urea

u of

Loc

al E

mpl

oym

ent (

BLE)

, and

the

Labo

r Com

mun

icati

ons O

ffice

(LCO

). Al

l of

them

said

that

they

don

’t ha

ve th

e in

form

ation

we

wer

e as

king

for e

xcep

t fo

r the

LCO

whi

ch a

sked

us t

o ch

eck

thei

r web

site.

How

ever

, the

web

site

does

n’t c

onta

in th

e su

mm

ary

of th

e lis

t we

need

. Also

, the

LCO

said

to c

all

agai

n, b

ecau

se th

ey w

ill a

sk th

e BL

R an

d BL

E fo

r the

info

rmati

on (b

urea

us w

ho

prev

ious

ly sa

id th

at th

ey d

on’t

have

the

info

rmati

on).

*Num

ber o

f Wor

king

Day

s inc

lude

s the

dat

e of

the

initi

al re

ques

t unti

l the

day

a re

spon

se w

as m

ade

eith

er v

ia se

ndin

g of

doc

umen

ts o

r ref

erra

l

29

Tabl

e 5

AER-

IP T

eam

FO

I Req

uest

Log

Re

port

as o

f Aug

ust 2

015

Gov

ernm

ent A

genc

yDa

te o

f Ini

tial R

eque

st/

Docu

men

ts R

eque

sted

No.

of F

ollo

w-u

p Le

tter

s/Ca

lls/

Emai

ls

No.

of W

orki

ng

Days

for

Resp

onse

Nat

ure

of R

espo

nse

Rem

arks

Depa

rtm

ent o

f For

eign

Aff

airs

Augu

st, 2

8, 2

014

- List

of a

genc

ies a

nd

poin

t per

sons

invo

lved

in

AEC

2015

matt

ers f

or th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

,- S

tatu

s of t

he P

hilip

pine

s’

AEC

com

mitm

ents

(i.e

. co

mpl

ied

with

, out

stan

ding

)

2 ca

lls a

nd 1

lette

r4

Refe

rral

to D

TI- T

he fo

llow

-up

lette

r is a

rese

ndin

g of

th

e in

itial

requ

est b

ecau

se D

FA lo

st it

in

our fi

rst s

endi

ng- W

hile

DTI

hol

ds in

form

ation

on

ASEA

N m

atter

s, it

is u

nkno

wn

why

DF

A, th

e de

part

men

t in-

char

ge o

f AS

EAN

rela

tions

, was

n’t a

ble

to p

rovi

de

docu

men

ts re

gard

ing

the

stru

ctur

e of

th

e bo

dy d

ealin

g w

ith A

SEAN

affa

irs.

Depa

rtm

ent o

f Tra

de

and

Indu

stry

Augu

st 2

8, 2

014

(IDTP

G/AS

ec O

ffice

)- L

ist o

f age

ncie

s and

po

int p

erso

ns in

volv

ed in

AE

C 20

15 m

atter

s for

the

Phili

ppin

es- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of

the

Phili

ppin

es’ A

EC

com

mitm

ents

(i.e

. com

plie

d w

ith, o

utst

andi

ng)

- List

of p

rogr

ams

(con

sulta

tions

, etc

.) to

pr

epar

e in

dust

ry a

nd

wor

kers

for A

EC 2

015

- List

and

cop

ies o

f co

mpl

eted

and

on-

goin

g im

pact

stud

ies r

elat

ed to

AE

C 20

15- A

sses

smen

t Pap

er o

n in

dust

ry p

repa

redn

ess f

or

2015

- List

and

stat

us o

f im

plem

enta

tion

of

com

plet

ed m

utua

l re

cogn

ition

arr

ange

men

ts

(MRA

s)- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of o

n-go

ing

MRA

neg

otiati

ons

8 ca

lls a

nd 1

lette

r42

Rece

ived

par

tial

docu

men

ts v

ia e

mai

l in

clud

ing:

- List

of a

genc

ies a

nd

poin

t per

sons

invo

lved

in

AEC

2015

matt

ers f

or th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

- List

of p

rogr

ams t

o pr

epar

e in

dust

ry a

nd

wor

kers

for A

EC 2

015

- List

and

cop

ies o

f co

mpl

eted

and

on-

goin

g im

pact

stud

ies r

elat

ed to

AE

C 20

15As

sess

men

t Pap

er o

n in

dust

ry p

repa

redn

ess f

or

2015

- DTI

invi

ted

us in

a m

eetin

g w

ith A

Sec.

Pe

rry

Rodo

lfo la

st S

epte

mbe

r 15,

201

4 (1

2 w

orki

ng d

ays a

fter i

nitia

l req

uest

). In

the

mee

ting,

they

pre

sent

ed a

PPT

w

here

som

e of

the

info

rmati

on w

e ne

eded

wer

e sh

own.

- The

info

rmati

on w

e re

ceiv

ed c

omes

in

the

form

of t

he P

PT p

rese

nted

dur

ing

the

mee

ting.

- For

the

list o

f age

ncie

s and

poi

nt

pers

ons,

they

ask

ed u

s to

find

AO 2

0,

whi

ch is

eas

ily a

cces

sed

in th

e in

tern

et.

- Afte

r the

initi

al m

eetin

g, th

e re

ceip

t of

the

PPT

was

qui

te lo

ng d

ue to

reas

ons

that

incl

ude

wai

ting

for a

ppro

val o

f the

hi

gher

-ups

in th

eir o

ffice

. Afte

r we

sent

a

follo

w-u

p le

tter,

we

imm

edia

tely

got

th

e PP

T.

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(IDTP

G/AS

ec O

ffice

)- L

ist o

f age

ncie

s and

po

int p

erso

ns in

volv

ed in

AE

C 20

15 m

atter

s for

the

Phili

ppin

es- S

tatu

s of t

he P

hilip

pine

s’

AEC

com

mitm

ents

(i.e

. co

mpl

ied

with

, out

stan

ding

)

7 ca

lls a

nd 1

fo

llow

-up

lette

r38

Rece

ived

par

tial

docu

men

ts v

ia e

mai

l in

clud

ing:

- List

of a

genc

ies a

nd

poin

t per

sons

invo

lved

in

AEC

2015

matt

ers f

or th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

- Thi

s is a

refe

rral

from

ear

lier r

eque

st to

DF

A.- T

he fo

llow

-up

lette

r her

e is

the

sam

e as

that

in A

ugus

t 28

(we

mer

ged

the

requ

ests

alre

ady)

.- A

s for

oth

er re

mar

ks, p

erta

in to

the

resu

lts fr

om th

e Au

gust

28

requ

est.

Oct

ober

29,

201

4 (B

oard

of

Inve

stm

ent)

- Fra

mew

ork

docu

men

t for

ch

oosin

g se

ctor

/indu

stry

- Tem

plat

e fo

r reg

iona

l ro

adm

aps

- Doc

umen

ts o

n th

e EP

G m

eetin

g/s

- Man

ufac

turin

g Re

surg

ence

Pl

an

1 ca

ll5

Rece

ived

all

docu

men

ts

via

emai

l- T

his i

s a fo

llow

-up

requ

est a

fter w

e ha

d a

roun

dtab

le d

iscus

sion

with

ASe

c. F

ita

Alda

ba.

- Her

offi

ce re

ferr

ed u

s to

the

Boar

d of

In

vest

men

ts (B

OI).

- We

got t

he d

ocum

ents

afte

r one

(1)

follo

w-u

p ca

ll on

ly.- T

he E

PG m

eetin

g w

as n

ot g

iven

be

caus

e th

ere’

s no

mee

ting

yet.

Janu

ary

30, 2

014–

Pre

sent

(IDTP

G/AS

ec O

ffice

)- L

ist o

f con

sulta

tions

don

e re

: AEC

201

5- M

ater

ials

used

dur

ing

the

cons

ulta

tions

- Sum

mar

y re

port

of fi

ndin

gs

from

thos

e co

nsul

tatio

ns

13 c

alls

136

On-

goin

g- T

his i

s our

seco

nd a

ttem

pt to

get

do

cum

ents

from

DTI

.- T

his ti

me

arou

nd, r

espo

nses

wer

e a

lot

mor

e di

fficu

lt to

get

(the

con

tact

per

son

alw

ays s

ays t

o fo

llow

-up,

but

to n

o av

ail).

Hous

e of

Re

pres

enta

tives

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(Indi

vidu

al O

ffice

s of

Reps

. Wal

den

Bello

, Ruf

us

Rodr

igue

z, W

inst

on C

aste

lo,

Mar

ia L

ourd

es A

cost

a-Al

ba,

Emm

i de

Jesu

s, L

eah

Paqu

iz)- H

ouse

Res

oluti

ons 3

75,

452,

612

, 666

, 746

, 760

, and

13

13- P

rivile

ge S

peec

h 13

and

76

20 c

alls

59Al

l doc

umen

ts w

ere

obta

ined

via

em

ail a

nd

fax

- I a

ggre

gate

d th

e ca

lls m

ade

to a

ll th

ese

indi

vidu

al o

ffice

s bec

ause

they

wer

e ju

st

mer

e ph

one

calls

(no

lette

r was

sent

).- I

t is i

mpo

rtan

t to

note

that

the

59 d

ays

repr

esen

t the

num

ber o

f wor

king

day

s ne

eded

to g

et a

ll do

cum

ents

. How

ever

, th

ere

wer

e offi

ces w

ho su

bmitt

ed th

e ne

eded

doc

umen

ts e

arlie

r (so

me

just

aft

er a

day

, som

e aft

er so

me

num

ber

of w

eeks

). U

nfor

tuna

tely,

dat

a on

eac

h sp

ecifi

c offi

ce w

ere

not r

ecor

ded.

- Som

e se

nt th

eir H

Rs v

ia e

mai

l and

so

me

via

fax.

- It’s

impo

rtan

t to

note

that

som

e offi

ces

foun

d it

easie

r to

just

send

the

HR a

nd

PS. T

he o

ther

s had

to w

ait f

or th

eir

high

er-u

p’s a

ppro

val –

a si

gn o

f non

-un

iform

ity in

giv

ing

out d

ocum

ents

to

the

publ

ic.

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(Eco

nom

ic A

ffairs

Co

mm

ittee

)- M

inut

es o

f the

Aug

ust 2

6,

2014

Mee

ting

on H

ouse

Re

solu

tions

666

and

746

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 5,

2014

Mee

ting

(Pre

sent

ation

on

the

com

mitm

ents

to

the

AEC

in re

latio

n to

agr

icul

ture

, tra

de

and

indu

stry

, and

SM

E de

velo

pmen

t); a

nd c

opie

s of

pap

ers/

subm

issio

ns b

y re

sour

ce p

erso

ns- M

inut

es o

f the

May

27,

20

14 M

eetin

g on

Hou

se

Reso

lutio

ns 6

66 a

nd 7

46;

and

brie

fing

pape

rs/

pres

enta

tions

subm

itted

by

DFA

and

DTI

- Min

utes

of N

ovem

ber 2

7,

2013

Mee

ting

(Brie

fing

by

the

PEZA

on

the

stat

us o

f ec

ozon

es);

and

a co

py o

f the

br

iefin

g pa

per/

pres

enta

tion

subm

itted

by

PEZA

4 ca

lls59

Parti

al d

ocum

ents

wer

e re

ceiv

ed (h

ardc

opy)

in

clud

ing:

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 26

, 201

4 M

eetin

g on

Ho

use

Reso

lutio

ns 6

66

and

746

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 5,

201

4 M

eetin

g (P

rese

ntati

on o

n th

e co

mm

itmen

ts to

the

AEC

in re

latio

n to

agr

icul

ture

, tr

ade

and

indu

stry

, and

SM

E de

velo

pmen

t);

and

copi

es o

f pap

ers/

subm

issio

ns b

y re

sour

ce

pers

ons

- Min

utes

of t

he M

ay 2

7,

2014

Mee

ting

on H

ouse

Re

solu

tions

666

and

746

; an

d br

iefin

g pa

pers

/pr

esen

tatio

ns su

bmitt

ed

by D

FA a

nd D

TI

- We

got t

he d

ocum

ents

by

goin

g to

a m

eetin

g of

the

com

mitt

ee la

st

Nov

embe

r, 20

14

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(For

eign

Aff

airs

Com

mitt

ee)

- Min

utes

of t

he Ju

ne 9

, 20

14 M

eetin

g (B

riefin

g by

DFA

on

the

ASEA

N

Inte

grati

on 2

015)

and

co

py o

f brie

fing

pape

r/pr

esen

tatio

n su

bmitt

ed b

y DF

A

3 ca

lls a

nd 1

lette

r31

Rece

ived

the

docu

men

t re

ques

ted

via

emai

l- T

hey

lost

the

initi

al le

tter s

ent s

o w

e ha

d to

rese

nd it

.

Sept

embe

r 3, 2

014

(Tra

de

and

Indu

stry

Com

mitt

ee)

- Min

utes

of t

he A

ugus

t 26,

20

14 M

eetin

g on

Hou

se

Reso

lutio

ns 6

66 a

nd 7

46- M

inut

es o

f the

Aug

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of t

he M

ay 2

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pers

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bmitt

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d DT

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n th

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d a

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he

brie

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pape

r/pr

esen

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bmitt

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ZA

1 ca

ll6

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rral

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airs

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ee v

ia

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l

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doc

umen

ts w

e re

ques

ted

simul

tane

ously

to th

e Ho

R Ec

onom

ic

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rs a

nd T

rade

& In

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ry C

omm

ittee

s ar

e th

e sa

me.

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y sa

id th

e Ec

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ffairs

Co

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is th

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ad c

omm

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onal

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nom

ic

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lopm

ent A

utho

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Oct

ober

30,

201

4 (O

ffice

of

the

Dire

ctor

-Gen

eral

)- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of

com

mitm

ents

mad

e by

the

Phili

ppin

es to

the

ASEA

N

Fram

ewor

k Ag

reem

ent o

n Se

rvic

es (A

FAS)

- List

and

stat

us o

f co

mm

itmen

ts m

ade

by th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

on

inve

stm

ents

, as

spec

ific

in th

e AE

C 20

15

Prio

rity

Actio

ns- L

ist a

nd c

opie

s of

com

plet

ed a

nd o

n-go

ing

impa

ct st

udie

s rel

ated

to

thes

e co

mm

itmen

ts- L

ist o

f pro

gram

s (c

onsu

ltatio

ns, e

tc.)

unde

rtak

en a

nd/o

r pla

nned

fo

r the

pre

para

tion

of

pote

ntial

ly a

ffect

ed

indu

strie

s and

wor

kers

13 c

alls

36Re

ceiv

ed p

artia

l do

cum

ents

via

em

ail

from

the

Serv

ices

Div

ision

in

clud

ing:

- List

and

stat

us o

f co

mm

itmen

ts m

ade

by th

e Ph

ilipp

ines

to

the

ASEA

N F

ram

ewor

k Ag

reem

ent o

n Se

rvic

es

(AFA

S)- L

ist a

nd st

atus

of

com

mitm

ents

mad

e by

the

Phili

ppin

es o

n in

vest

men

ts, a

s spe

cific

in

the

AEC

2015

Prio

rity

Actio

ns- L

ist a

nd c

opie

s of

com

plet

ed a

nd o

n-go

ing

impa

ct st

udie

s rel

ated

to

thes

e co

mm

itmen

ts

- Out

of t

he 1

3 ca

lls, t

here

wer

e ca

lls

mad

e as

a re

sult

of a

refe

rral

from

one

ag

ency

with

in N

EDA

to a

noth

er. T

hese

re

ferr

als i

nclu

de th

e DD

G O

ffice

, TSI

S,

and

the

Serv

ices

Div

ision

.- N

EDA

said

that

the

list o

f pro

gram

s can

be

obt

aine

d fr

om D

TI.

July

28,

201

5 (S

ervi

ces

Divi

sion)

- List

of c

onsu

ltatio

ns d

one

re: A

EC 2

015

- Mat

eria

ls us

ed d

urin

g th

e co

nsul

tatio

ns- S

umm

ary

repo

rt o

f find

ings

fr

om th

ose

cons

ulta

tions

- Upd

ates

on

AFAS

9 a

nd 1

0

1 ca

ll2

Refe

rral

to D

TI a

nd D

OLE

vi

a em

ail

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refe

rral

app

lies t

o al

l doc

umen

ts

exce

pt th

e up

date

s on

the

AFAS

9 a

nd

10. T

hose

are

not

yet

ava

ilabl

e.

Depa

rtm

ent o

f Ag

ricul

ture

July

9, 2

015

- List

of c

onsu

ltatio

ns d

one

re: A

EC 2

015

- Mat

eria

ls us

ed d

urin

g th

e co

nsul

tatio

ns- S

umm

ary

repo

rt o

f find

ings

fr

om th

ose

cons

ulta

tions

Non

e6

Rece

ived

all

docu

men

ts

requ

este

d vi

a em

ail

- Afte

r I se

nt th

e re

ques

t lett

er, t

he

depa

rtm

ent s

ent a

ll th

e do

cum

ents

I ne

ed a

fter a

wee

k (w

ithou

t the

nee

d fo

r fo

llow

-up

calls

/lette

rs)

- The

y al

so in

vite

d AE

R to

join

thei

r gro

up

of N

GOs t

hat t

hey

cons

ult r

e: A

SEAN

and

tr

ade

matt

ers

Depa

rtm

ent o

f Lab

or

and

Empl

oym

ent

July

28,

201

5- L

ist o

f con

sulta

tions

don

e re

: AEC

201

5- M

ater

ials

used

dur

ing

the

cons

ulta

tions

- Sum

mar

y re

port

of fi

ndin

gs

from

thos

e co

nsul

tatio

ns

5 ca

lls7

(on-

goin

g)Th

e La

bor

Com

mun

icati

ons O

ffice

(L

CO) a

sked

me

to

chec

k th

eir w

ebsit

e ne

ws a

rticl

es fo

r the

in

form

ation

I ne

ed. T

hey

said

to c

all b

ack

if I c

an’t

find

them

.

- Out

of t

he 5

follo

w-u

p ca

lls, w

e w

ere

dire

cted

to 4

diff

eren

t bur

eaus

w

ithin

the

depa

rtm

ent.

It in

clud

es

Inte

rnati

onal

Lab

or A

ffairs

Bur

eau,

Bu

reau

on

Labo

r Rel

ation

s (BL

R), B

urea

u of

Loc

al E

mpl

oym

ent (

BLE)

, and

the

Labo

r Com

mun

icati

ons O

ffice

(LCO

). Al

l of

them

said

that

they

don

’t ha

ve th

e in

form

ation

we

wer

e as

king

for e

xcep

t fo

r the

LCO

whi

ch a

sked

us t

o ch

eck

thei

r web

site.

How

ever

, the

web

site

does

n’t c

onta

in th

e su

mm

ary

of th

e lis

t we

need

. Also

, the

LCO

said

to c

all

agai

n, b

ecau

se th

ey w

ill a

sk th

e BL

R an

d BL

E fo

r the

info

rmati

on (b

urea

us w

ho

prev

ious

ly sa

id th

at th

ey d

on’t

have

the

info

rmati

on).

*Num

ber o

f Wor

king

Day

s inc

lude

s the

dat

e of

the

initi

al re

ques

t unti

l the

day

a re

spon

se w

as m

ade

eith

er v

ia se

ndin

g of

doc

umen

ts o

r ref

erra

l

30

by

Nepomuceno Malaluan51

(Remarks at the Regional Dialogue on Freedom of Information in the Mekong Countries organized by UNESCO and Southeast Asian Press Alliance, 12-14 October 2015, Pullman Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand)

5 Nepomuceno Malaluan is Co-Director of the Institute for Freedom of Information, a partnership program of the Action for Economic Reforms (AER) and the Philippine Center of Investigative Journalism. He is Co-Convener of the Right to Know. Right Now! Coalition, a network of more than 150 organizations that is at the forefront of the campaign for the passage of a Freedom of Information Act in the Philippines. He is one of the founding Trustees, and presently Corporate Secretary, of AER, an independent policy analysis and advocacy organization working on macroeconomic and governance issues. He is a lawyer with academic background in economics. Atty. Malaluan is a member of the AER-Industrial Policy Team.

The ever-increasing interaction among governments, economies and people both globally and in the region is undeniable. This is taking place at various levels and activities, whether as government representatives in diplomatic relations, as business in terms of investments, production and trade, or as people in terms of consumption, labor and employment, community hosting of economic activities, and travel.

Such increasing interactions have in part been driven by economic growth and innovations in communications and exchange. At the same time, they have also been facilitated and promoted by proactive intergovernmental policies and projects towards greater international integration. In ASEAN, the more recent expression of this is the ASEAN Vision 2020 launched in 1997, which later on put in motion the process for establishing the ASEAN Community comprising three pillars, namely the ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC), the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC). The timetable for the establishment of the ASEAN Community was even accelerated from 2020 to 2015.

Proactive international integration policies and projects generally take on public interest objectives. For the ASEAN Community, these objectives include peace, progress, competitiveness, prosperity, among others. In turn, these are seen as promotive of outcomes such as employment, poverty eradication, and social development that benefit all citizens.

Looking deeper than these stated public interest objectives, however, the reality is also that regional integration is often dominated by a business and corporate agenda in terms of policy direction and implementation. The ASEAN Economic Community exemplifies this, with policies aimed at removing any remaining restrictions on trade, investments, and the needed human resources. There are

The Relevance of FOIin the Context of ASEAN Integration

five major agreements under the AEC: the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement that targets the elimination of tariffs; the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (AFAS) with the goal of substantially eliminating restrictions to trade in services; the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA) which guides the liberalization of investment in the region; the ASEAN Agreement on the Movement of Natural Persons (AAMNP) that relaxes the requirements for the entry, transfer, or temporary stay of business visitors, intra-corporate transferees, and contractual services; and the ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs) for recognition and practice of professions.

It is the interplay between the business and corporate agenda on one hand, and the public interest objectives and outcomes, on the other, that heightens the relevance of FOI in international integration. There are times when they converge, to the extent that trade expansion and investments contribute to growth, employment, greater access to goods and services, and better well-being to the benefit of citizens while securing profits for business and corporations. But there are also times when trade and investments result in outcomes that are harmful to people and communities. Livelihoods and employment can be lost through fierce competition, or as a consequence of a financial crisis. People and communities can be displaced by an infrastructure project, or a mining operation, or a new plantation. Forests, watersheds, soil, and the air can deteriorate and heighten environmental and climate vulnerability.

From the perspective of citizens being potential beneficiaries or victims of international integration policies or projects, a guarantee of a right to access information held by their governments or inter-governmental bodies becomes a just demand. FOI becomes an enabling tool to serve various objectives, including awareness and inclusion in the process, protection from harmful impact, and empowerment in decision-making.

31

As early as 2010, there was an effort to create a CSO Task Force on FOI under the Solidarity for Asian People’s Advocacy (SAPA) Working Group on ASEAN. One of the ideas coming out of this effort was to consider a coordinated advocacy to push for the adoption by the ASEAN of an FOI Policy, taking inspiration from the FOI or disclosure policies in several intergovernmental organizations such as the ADB and the World Bank. Unfortunately, the effort fizzled out owing to the difficulty of sustaining a coordinated regional initiative with little resources.

Looking back, it may have been premature to pursue a policy adoption mode of advocacy in ASEAN as a body. In addition to the limitations in regional coordination among CSOs, the difficulties in FOI legislation among member governments will likely be carried over to ASEAN.

An alternative advocacy mode that can be more practically adopted is FOI Practice. In the Philippines, we are starting a shift towards this path in our FOI advocacy, in light of the continued refusal of the President and Congress leadership to muster the political will to finally pass the FOI Act.

By FOI Practice, we mean the coordination and systematization of requests for access to documents or records, and documenting the response of the public body to build historical data, evidence, and learning on FOI.

As an example, the Action for Economic Reforms - Industrial Policy Team (AER-IP Team), in the context of its review of the government’s preparedness for ASEAN Economic Community 2015, conducted an FOI Practice initiative directed at the Philippine government. The AER - IP Team requested information from five executive agencies (the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Agriculture, Department of Labor and Employment, and the National Economic and Development Authority); three Congressional Committees at the House of Representatives (Foreign Affairs, Trade and Industry, and Economic Affairs); and offices of a number of members of the House of Representatives. The AER-IP Team requested the following classes of information: Specific commitments and their status; Preparations done by Philippine Government; Studies carried out or commissioned by Government evaluating the impact of AEC 2015; and the List of agencies and focal persons involved in AEC 2015 matters. The team documented the government response, and wrote it as a short article titled “FOI Practice: Accessing Information to Look Into the Country’s Preparedness for AEC 2015”, as a by-product to the main output titled “Are we Ready for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)?”

In summary, I believe that CSOs can mainstream systematic and coordinated FOI Practice as part of their

FOI advocacy strategies, whether alongside or as an alternative to FOI legislation, as may be appropriate. This can be applied to issues relating to ASEAN integration, and to other advocacies as well. (In the Philippines, a number of members of the Right to Know. Right Now! Coalition is beginning to mainstream FOI Practice in their respective issues and advocacies, including agrarian reform, migration, consumer protection, anti-corruption, among others.)

More specifically, FOI Practice may have the following elements:

• It will involve actively requesting for information directly needed to advance key issues, advocacies, and related rights.

• It should make use of standardized methodology for requesting, monitoring and documenting requests and outcomes.

•Where a good opportunity exists and there is sufficient capacity, it can go beyond documentation of experience towards legal development through administrative, quasi-judicial, and judicial interventions ranging from dialogue to litigation.

• FOI Practice can be directed at the national government, or at intergovernmental organizations.

• FOI Practice can be a good mechanism for building solidarity on FOI, through capacity building on knowing the substantive and procedural rights under existing laws even in the absence of a comprehensive FOI legislation, building a body of comparable evidence on state and intergovernmental organizations’ response to requests for information, and identification of shared issues for coordinated requests.

Regional integration is a reality. AEC 2015 is upon us, and beyond it an ASEAN High Level Task Force has already been established in February this year, to work on an ASEAN Community Vision 2025 that seeks to deepen integration even further. While it is founded on a stated vision to “realize a politically cohesive, economically integrated, socially responsible, and a truly people-oriented, people-centered and rules-based ASEAN”, we know as well that its dominant driver remains to be a business and corporate agenda that will generate both beneficiaries and victims. CSOs taking the side of citizens must continue to work for inclusion, protection, and empowerment, and FOI will be a necessary right for such work to be effective.

32

ANNEX A

Declaration on the ASEAN Community Blueprint, November 20, 2007 WE, the Heads of State/Government of Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, Member Countries of ASEAN, on the occasion of the 40th Anniversary of ASEAN and the 13th ASEAN Summit in Singapore; RECALLING our earlier decision to establish by 2020 the ASEAN Community, including the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), made in the Declaration of ASEAN Concord II in Bali, Indonesia, on 7 October 2003; DETERMINED to achieve higher levels of economic dynamism, sustained prosperity, inclusive growth and integrated development of ASEAN; CONSCIOUS of the increasing interdependence of the ASEAN economies within the region as well as with the rest of the world and stressing the importance of narrowing the development gap for accelerating the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015; RECOGNISING that different levels of development within ASEAN require some flexibility as ASEAN moves towards a more integrated and interdependent future; REAFFIRMING our collective commitment, made at the 12th ASEAN Summit in Cebu, the Philippines, on 13 January 2007, to accelerate the establishment of the ASEAN Community, including its AEC pillar, to 2015; COGNISANT of the need to have a strengthened institutional framework and a unified legal identity as set forth in the ASEAN Charter by putting in place rules-based systems to realise the establishment of the AEC by 2015; EXPRESSING satisfaction at the overall progress made and commitment shown by ASEAN in developing the AEC Blueprint and to ensure its timely implementation; REAFFIRMING the ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) as the coordinator of all ASEAN economic integration and cooperation issues; DO HEREBY:

1. ADOPT the AEC Blueprint which each ASEAN Member Country shall abide by and implement the AEC by 2015. The AEC Blueprint will transform ASEAN into a single market and production base, a highly competitive economic region, a region of equitable economic development, and a region fully integrated into the global economy. The AEC Blueprint including its strategic schedule is annexed to this Declaration.

2. TASK concerned Ministers, assisted by the ASEAN Secretariat, to implement the AEC Blueprint and to report to us regularly, through the Council of the ASEAN Economic Community, on the progress of its implementation.

DECLARATION ON THE ASEAN COMMUNITY BLUEPRINT

33

ANNEX A

DONE in Singapore on the twentieth day of November in the Year Two Thousand and Seven, in single copy, in the English language.

For Brunei Darussalam: HAJI HASSANAL BOLKIAH Sultan of Brunei Darussalam

For Kingdom of Cambodia:

SAMDECH HUN SEN Prime Minister

For the Republic of Indonesia:

DR. SUSILO BAMBANG YUDHOYONO President

For the Lao People's Democratic Republic:

BOUASONE BOUPHAVANH Prime Minister

For Malaysia:

DATO' SERI ABDULLAH AHMAD BADAWI Prime Minister

For the Union of Myanmar:

GENERAL THEIN SEIN Prime Minister

For the Republic of the Philippines:

GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO President

For the Republic of Singapore:

LEE HSIEN LOONG Prime Minister

For the Kingdom of Thailand:

GENERAL SURAYUD CHULANONT (RET.) Prime Minister

For the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam:

NGUYEN TAN DUNG Prime Minister

34

2015 KUALA LUMPUR DECLARATION ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ASEAN COMMUNITY

WE, the Heads of State/Government of the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (hereinafter referred to as ASEAN), namely Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, on the occasion of the 2ih ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; RECALLING the spirit in which the ASEAN Founding Fathers gathered in Bangkok in 1967 and signed the ASEAN Declaration to create an organization that would help bring about a Southeast Asian region of peace, freedom and prosperity for our peoples; REAFFIRMING our commitment to the ASEAN Vision 2020 (Kuala Lumpur, 1997), the Declaration of ASEAN Concord II (Bali, 2003), the Cebu Declaration on the Acceleration of the Establishment of an ASEAN Community by 2015 (Cebu, 2007), the Cha-am Hua Hin Declaration on the Roadmap for an ASEAN Community (2009-2015) (Cha-am, 2009), the Bali Declaration on ASEAN Community in a Global Community of Nations (Bali, 2011), the Phnom Penh Agenda for ASEAN Community Building (Phnom Penh, 2012) and the Nay Pyi Taw Declaration on Realization of the ASEAN Community by 2015 (Nay Pyi Taw, 2014); REAFFIRMING FURTHER our commitment to the ASEAN Charter, which reflects our desire and collective will to live in a region of lasting peace, security and stability, sustained economic growth, shared prosperity and social progress; ACKNOWLEDGING the significance of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia and other key ASEAN instruments in maintaining a peaceful and stable region, which contributes to ASEAN Community building; RECOGNISING the efforts and significant achievements in the implementation of the Roadmap for an ASEAN Community (2009-2015) comprising the ASEAN Political-Security Community, the ASEAN Economic Community and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprints, as well as the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Work Plan II and the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity; CONFIDENT that the realization of the ASEAN Community has set a milestone in the integration process and will ensure lasting peace, security and resilience in an outward-looking region, with economies that are vibrant, competitive and highly integrated and an inclusive community that is embedded with a strong sense of togetherness and common identity; UNDERLINING our aspiration towards establishing a truly rules-based, people-oriented, people-centered ASEAN Community where our peoples continue to participate in and benefit fully from the on-going process of ASEAN integration and community building; and PLEDGING our continued commitment to the on-going process of ASEAN community building, including an ASEAN Community's post-2015 vision, guided by the purposes and principles of the ASEAN Charter;

ANNEX B

35

ANNEX B

DO HEREBY: DECLARE the formal establishment of the ASEAN Community on 31 December 2015. DONE at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this Twenty Second Day of November in the Year Two Thousand and Fifteen, in a single original copy, in the English language.

For Brunei Darussalam: HAJI HASSANAL BOLKIAH Sultan of Brunei Darussalam

For the Kingdom of Cambodia:

SAMDECH AKKA MOHA SENA PADEI TECHO HUNSEN Prime Minister


JOKO WIDODO President

For the Lao People's Democratic Republic:

THONSING THAMMAVONG Prime Minister

For Malaysia:

DATO' SRI MOHD NAJIB TUN ABDUL RAZAK Prime Minister

For the Republic of the Union of Myanmar:

THEIN SEIN President

For the Republic of the Philippines:

BENIGNO S. AQUINO III President

For the Republic of Singapore:



GENERAL PRAYUT CHAN-O-CHA (RET.) Prime Minister

For the Socialist Republic of Vietnam:


36

ANNEX C

KUALA LUMPUR DECLARATION ON ASEAN 2025: FORGING AHEAD TOGETHER

WE, the Heads of State/Government of the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (hereinafter referred to as ASEAN), namely, Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, on the occasion of the 27th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur; RECALLING the spirit in which the ASEAN Founding Fathers gathered in Bangkok in 1967 to create an organization that would help bring about a Southeast Asian region of peace, freedom and prosperity for our peoples; REAFFIRMING our commitment to the purposes and principles enshrined in the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok, 1967), the Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality Declaration (Kuala Lumpur, 1971), the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (Bali, 1976), the Declaration of ASEAN Concord (Bali, 1976), the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (Bangkok, 1995), the ASEAN Vision 2020 (Kuala Lumpur, 1997), the Declaration of ASEAN Concord II (Bali, 2003) and the Bali Declaration on ASEAN Community in a Global Community of Nations (Bali, 2011); REAFFIRMING FURTHER the purposes and principles enshrined in the ASEAN Charter that reflect our desire and collective will to live in a region of lasting peace, security and stability, sustained economic growth, shared prosperity and social progress, as well as promote ASEAN interests, ideals and aspirations; RECOGNISING that the rapidly changing geostrategic landscape continues to present both opportunities and challenges which require ASEAN to respond proactively, in order to remain relevant as well as to maintain ASEAN centrality and role as the primary driving force in the evolving regional architecture; COGNISANT of our commitment made under the Bandar Seri Begawan Declaration on the ASEAN Community’s Post-2015 Vision in 2013 and the Nay Pyi Taw Declaration on the ASEAN Community’s Post-2015 Vision in 2014 that sets out the future direction for a politically cohesive, economically integrated, socially responsible and a truly rules-based, people-oriented, people-centred ASEAN; EMPHASISING the importance of implementing the Report and Recommendations of the High Level Task Force on Strengthening the ASEAN Secretariat and Reviewing the ASEAN Organs that was endorsed at the 25th ASEAN Summit in Nay Pyi Taw; RECOGNISING the benefits realised from the implementation of the Roadmap for an ASEAN Community (2009-2015) comprising the ASEAN Political-Security Community, the ASEAN Economic Community and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprints, as well as the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Work Plan II and the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity;

37

ANNEX C

WELCOMING the formal establishment of the ASEAN Community 2015 comprising the ASEAN Political-Security Community, the ASEAN Economic Community and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community; and COMMENDING the work of the High Level Task Force on the ASEAN Community’s Post-2015 Vision, as well as the work of the High Level Task Force on ASEAN Political-Security Community, the High Level Task Force on ASEAN Economic Integration and the High Level Task Force on ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, supported by the ASEAN Secretariat, on the three Community Blueprints; DO HEREBY:

1. ADOPT the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, the ASEAN Political-Security Community Blueprint 2025, the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint 2025 and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint 2025;

2. AGREE that this Declaration as well as the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, the

ASEAN Political-Security Community Blueprint 2025, the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint 2025 and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint 2025, as annexed, shall constitute the ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together;

3. DECIDE that the ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together succeeds the Roadmap for

an ASEAN Community (2009-2015);

4. FURTHER DECIDE that the IAI Work Plan III and the ASEAN Connectivity 2025 to be adopted in 2016 shall be an integral part of the ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together;

5. RESOLVE that ASEAN Member States as well as ASEAN Organs and Bodies shall

implement the ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together, in a timely and effective manner, in accordance with the purposes and principles of the ASEAN Charter;

6. TASK the ASEAN Ministers, the Secretary-General of ASEAN as well as other ASEAN

Organs and Bodies to mobilise resources from ASEAN Member States and external sources to implement the ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together; and

7. DIRECT the Secretary-General of ASEAN to monitor and report the progress of

implementation of the ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together to the ASEAN Summit annually, through the ASEAN Coordinating Council and respective ASEAN Community Councils.

DONE at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, this Twenty Second day of November in the Year Two Thousand and Fifteen, in a single original copy, in the English Language.

38

ANNEX C

For Brunei Darussalam:

HAJI HASSANAL BOLKIAH Sultan of Brunei Darussalam

For the Kingdom of Cambodia:

SAMDECH AKKA MOHA SENA PADEI TECHO HUN SEN Prime Minister


JOKO WIDODO President

For the Lao People’s Democratic Republic:

THONGSING THAMMAVONG Prime Minister

For Malaysia:

DATO’ SRI MOHD NAJIB TUN ABDUL RAZAK Prime Minister

For the Republic of the Union of Myanmar

THEIN SEIN President

For the Republic of the Philippines

BENIGNO S. AQUINO III President

For the Republic of Singapore



GENERAL PRAYUT CHAN-O-CHA (RET.) Prime Minister

For the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam:


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