The multisectoral Fair Trade Alliance (FairTrade) has urged incoming President Benigno Aquino III to prioritize the review and recall the recently published Executive Order 877-A or the new Motor Vehicle Development Program stressing it allows importation of used cars and the restructuring of tariffs for imported vehicles.

FairTrade lead convenor Sen. Wigberto Tañada said that EO 877-A should be among the economic measures that the Aquino administration should prioritize in its first 100 days in office due to its overarching impact on the domestic automotive industry.

Oppositors of the EO – which was allegedly enacted sans sufficient public consultation – claim that EO 877-A allows the tinkering of tariff structures to choose winners and losers in the auto-making and vehicle importation industries.

During the FTA Convenors’ meeting in Quezon City, the group said it has written at least three letters inquiring about the status of the questioned EO but got no response from Malacañang or the Department of Trade and Industry.

Apart from EO 877-A, the group also wants President Aquino to renegotiate the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) stressing that the same is lopsided in favor of Japan. FTA said it will create a multi-stakeholder task force that will coordinate directly with the Aquino administration to find out if JPEPA really achieved its goal or if the Philippines got a raw deal.

At the same time, the group also outlined the following urgent concerns that the new administration should focus on: issuance of an EO for the Freedom of Information, in lieu of the botched approval of the FOI bill in Congress; an EO creating the Philippine Trade Representative Office; review of bilateral trade agreements; enhanced tax collection instead of new taxes; and appointment of people of known integrity and competence in key cabinet posts.