New fund sources open up for PH

The Philippines’ pivot to its Asian neighbors is opening up more sources of funds as China and Japan compete for the financing of local infrastructure projects.

While the Chinese government is expected to firm up its commitments when China Vice Premier Wang Yang visits the country this week, the Japanese are trying to catch up, such that Philippine economic managers will meet with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) later this month to identify projects it would finance, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia told reporters.

March 26 in Tokyo will be the first for the Philippines-Japan infrastructure development and economic cooperation that the two countries were firming up, said Pernia, who also heads the National Economic and Development Authority.

Pernia said the invitation for the Tokyo meeting came from Hiroto Izumi, special adviser to Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

He said they would “finalize the projects to be funded by Jica.”
Specifically, Jica was looking to finance the commuter line of the south line of the North-South Railway Project (NSRP), Pernia said.

The 653-kilometer NSRP south line, which will consist of commuter railway operations between Tutuban in Manila and Calamba, Laguna, as well as long haul railway operations between Tutuban and Legazpi City in Albay province, is poised to be the largest public-private partnership (PPP) project to date.

Asked if the Chinese and the Japanese governments seemed to be competing for local projects to fund, Neda Undersecretary Rosemarie G. Edillon answered “yes, and we’re benefiting.”

Pernia said this competition was somewhat putting the Philippine government in a bind as there were a number of projects that both the Chinese and Japanese wanted to fund, such as the high-speed rail that would connect Manila and Clark.

China was also eyeing the P35.044-billion Subic-Clark Railway Project to be rolled out by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority, Pernia said.

Based on Neda documents, the 65-kilometer Subic-Clark Railway will carry both cargoes and passengers through a rail system traversing through the right-of-way of Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway and the Subic Freeport Expressway.