PH, Japan to sign new loan for subway in Q1 next year
The Philippines and Japan are planning to sign early next year the second loan agreement for the country’s first subway system, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.
During last week’s Philippines-Japan Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation online meeting, the two sides committed to approve the next financing tranche for the first phase of the Metro Manila Subway by the first quarter of 2021, the DOF said in a statement on Saturday.
The P356.9-billion, 25.3-kilometer subway belonging to the Duterte administration’s pipeline of “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program will connect Quezon City and Taguig City, with a spur line going to Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The Philippines and Japan signed the first loan for the subway project amounting to 104.53 billion yen in 2018.
On top of this big-ticket financing, “the Japanese side also committed to continuously provide technical assistance and technical assistance-related grants to the Philippines with highly concessional payment terms, possibly under its special terms of economic partnership (Step) for eligible countries, before the Philippines elevates its classification to an upper-middle income country on or before 2022,” the DOF said.
The Japanese side led by Hiroto Izumi, special adviser to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, told the Philippine side led by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III that Japan “remains committed to enhancing bilateral ties with the Philippines” under their new leadership, especially for the ambitious “Build, Build, Build” program.
As such, the two sides identified additional projects to be jointly undertaken by the Philippines and Japan in the following sectors: disaster risk reduction and management; energy; environment; information and communications technology; public safety, and regional development.
Japan also reiterated its commitment to the peace process in Mindanao, hence its support for the newly established Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) as well as the ongoing rehabilitation of the war-torn Marawi City., the DOF said. —Ben O. de Vera INQ
