#PH-Japan partnership: subway, bypass, and more

THE economic ties between the Philippines and Japan are expected to further strengthen this 2018 as Japan fulfills its investment pledges made during the visit of President Duterte in Tokyo last year.

Last March 16, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and Yoshio Wada, the chief representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), signed the 104.53billion-yen loan agreement for the construction of the first phase of the Metro Manila Subway Project, a project spanning from Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City to the Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) area in Taguig City, and will continue to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

Utilizing cutting-edge Japanese tunneling technology, the Metro Manila Subway Station will involve the construction of a 30-kilometer underground railway with 14 stations.

Data provided by Department of Finance indicates that the loan agreement for the first tranche carries an interest rate of 0.10 percent per annum for non-consulting services (which involves civil works, depot, railroad, electromechanical works, power supply) and 0.01 percent per annum for consulting services, payable in 40 years inclusive of a 12-year grace period under the Special Terms for Economic Partnership of JICA.

One day prior to the signing, the Japanese government through Ambassador Koji Haneda and Mitsubishi Motors Philippines President and CEO Mitsuhiro Oshikiri also turned over 27 sets of brand new heavy equipment and 26 Mitsubishi utility vehicles to Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea and Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark A. Villar for use in the government’s rehabilitation program of Marawi City.

The handover ceremony in Marawi City was for seven hydraulic excavators, three bulldozers, three wheel loaders, two motor graders, and 12 dump trucks

In February, Philippines and Japan also signed the 9.399 billion yen loan agreement for the construction of the third phase of the Arterial Road Bypass Project that is designed to ease traffic congestion in Bulacan and spur economic growth in the province’s rural areas.

The Arterial Road Bypass, also known as the Plaridel Bypass is a 24.61-kilometer arterial road that will link the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) in Balagtas, Bulacan with the Philippine-Japan Friendship Highway, also called Maharlika Highway, in San Rafael, Bulacan. It will bypass the town proper of Plaridel and the urban areas of Pulilan, Baliuag, and San Rafael (all in Bulacan) along the existing Maharlika Highway.

The loan agreement, which was signed last February, for the construction of the third phase of the Arterial Road Bypass Project provided for interest rates of 1.5 percent per annum for non-consulting services and 0.01 percent per annum for consulting services with a repayment period of 20 years and a 10-year grace period.