President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the Senate will prioritize the ratification of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) after the passage of 2023 national budget.

Marcos said the ratification of RCEP was among the topics he discussed with Indonesian President Joko Widodo during his first state visit in Jakarta.

""We also covered the RCEP during our talk, the ratification of the RCEP by the Philippines, which is going to be very high up on the order of business of the Senate, after the budget is passed," Marcos said in a press conference in Indonesia last Tuesday.

Less than a month before he formally assumed as the new President , Marcos said he wanted an assessment of the country’s competitiveness before pursuing the ratification of the RCEP trade agreement.

Marcos noted that RCEP is good as it aims to encourage trade, however, he also pointed out that the state of the country’s competitiveness could be a stumbling block to the effectiveness of RCEP.

RCEP is a free-trade agreement among the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), along with China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. It is considered the world's biggest free trade agreement.

The Senate failed to ratify RCEP before it adjourned sine die on June 1. Robina Asido/DMS