'ROUND 3' ON JPEPA: Committee Chairpersons Mar Roxas (Trade and Industry), Miriam Defensor-Santiago (Foreign Relations) and Pia Cayetano (Environment and Natural Resources) lead the Senate's third public hearing on the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA), with focus on the agreement's impact on environment and health, held last September 27. The senators agreed that 'Round 3' of the hearings again went to the opposition, as government representatives failed to convince the senate panel that there are enough safeguards in JPEPA to prevent the dumping of hazardous and toxic waste products as feared by environmental groups.