AIIB funding considered for Pasig river rehabilitation

THE government may tap the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to finance the rehabilitation of the Pasig River, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said.

Although Mr. Pernia said that the government has yet to conduct a feasibility study for the project, he said that it may be added to the government’s priority project list.

“I think it should be given priority because it’s not just an economic project, it’s also an environmental and social project, so the benefits are multifaceted,” Mr. Pernia told reporters on the sidelines of the Philippine Business Conference and Expo in Manila yesterday.

“I think it’s a good idea that we include this among our big-ticket projects,” he added, noting that the matter will be raised with the government’s Investment Coordination Committee.

AIIB’s Philippine representative Rolando Macasaet said during the forum that the multilateral lender may accept a proposal for a river rehabilitation, noting the bank’s focus on environmental projects.

“What I have in my mind is that the gamechanging projects for the Philippines is the rehab of Pasig river,” he said

“We will solve the flood problem in Metro Manila. We will be able to regulate the city’s temperature. We will have the best real estate prices along the banks. We can have walkways, parks. We can improve the quality of life of our people. It is a matter of national pride if we can rehab the Pasig river,” he added.

However Mr. Macasaet said that the project — which could cost some P200 billion — should be initiated by the government.

“Perhaps at my level, I can endorse it to the Board for it to move on but it is the government that has to initiate the project,” he said.

Jin Yuan, Commercial Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Manila, meanwhile said that if the 25-kilometer river rehabilitation project goes ahead, it would be an “urgent” project for counterpart funding from China funding — but warned that the project will be “expensive.”

“I was also told that your president also complained about this Pasig river. So the Pasig river rehab will become an urgent project,” he said.

“Pasig river is very large, across Metro Manila. So if the whole river (is rehabilitated), we have constraints. [It] will be quite expensive. Now we are waiting for the feasibility study to be completed, and the Chinese government is very willing to work with AIIB to carry on this very important project.”

Last month, the AIIB board of directors approved funding for a similar environmental project — the $ 500 Metro Manila Flood Control project.