Rail ‘mega projects’ top list Philippines pitches for yen financing
MANILA has formally sought from Tokyo financing for 14 projects — among them a mammoth subway project for Metro Manila — taking up Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on his offer to give its Southeast Asian ally up to ¥1 trillion in foreign aid and investments.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia — a member of the Philippine delegation that flew to Tokyo for a three-day visit — said three of the 14 projects are “mega projects” worth a combined $8.824 billion (¥980.3 billion). Those are the Malolos-Clark Railway Extension Project, the Tutuban- Los Baños Commuter Line Project and the Mega Metro Manila Subway System Project, Mr. Pernia told a media briefing on Thursday.
“These are really mega projects so I would consider them flagship projects… There are 11 more in our list, which will follow these three flagship projects,” Mr. Pernia, who as Socioeconomic Planning secretary heads the National Economic and Development Authority ( NEDA) as director-general.
The announcement comes as President Rodrigo R. Duterte aims to spur infrastructure spending to account for 5.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) this year or P860.7 billion, from 5.1% of GDP in 2016.
The Philippine delegation’s March 2628 visit to Tokyo also comes two months after Mr. Abe’s meeting with Mr. Duterte in Manila as Japan sought to boost its economic foothold in the face of anticipated competition from China. During his visit, Mr. Abe said Japan is committing ¥1 trillion in official development assistance and investments to the Philippines.
“This is a five-year commitment of the Japanese government. These are all official development assistance (ODA), but there’ll be differences in the interest charges,” said Mr. Pernia, referring to the list of projects proposed by the Philippines.
The $ 1.9- billion ( P95.28- billion) Malolos-Clark Railway Project will be an extension of the Tutuban-Malolos Railway Project that will connect Malolos to Clark.
The Tutuban- Los Baños Commuter Line Project will cost $ 2.674 billion (P134.10 billion).
The $4.25-billion (P213-billion) Mega Metro Manila Subway System, for which
a feasibility study has been concluded, “will run from FTI to I think North EDSA, Trinoma, the North EDSA mall there. It snakes through Ortigas and bypasses Katipunan on to North Quezon City,” according to Mr. Pernia, adding that subway construction will begin next year and will take two and a half years to complete.
The list will also include irrigation, public works as well as energy and industrial zone development projects.
The NEDA did not offer details for those projects, as Mr. Abe is widely expected to announce them when he again visits the Philippines for the 2017 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in November.
“Kasi ang Japanese want to time the release because the prime minister is coming in November and the big announcement… The bottom line here is we have… big support from the Japanese government on infrastructure development,” NEDA Deputy Director General for Investment Programming Rolando G. Tungpalan told reporters at the sidelines of a signing ceremony with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency. “Estimated cost? They’re still being refined by the feasiblity studies. That will be submitted in the next three months. These are mega ODA loans.” —