Metro Manila subway loan signing set next month

MACTAN  , Philippines  — The Philippine and Japanese governments are set to sign this March the loan agreement for the P356.9-billion Metro Manila subway project, the Department of Finance (DOF) said yesterday.

In a press briefing, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said Manila and Tokyo agreed to finalize and sign the first tranche of the loan agreement for the Metro Manila Subway System by next month.

“The first tranche for the loan for the Metro Manila subway is due for signing in March 2018. Both sides agreed to work toward the partial operability of the subway line by 2022 at the latest,” Dominguez said during a press briefing after the fourth Philippines-Japan Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation.

However, Dominguez did not specify yet how much of the project cost will be shouldered by the Japanese government. He said the amount would still be finalized before the signing of the agreement.

President Duterte and Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe witnessed the exchange of notes for the Metro Manila Subway Project on the sidelines of the 31st ASEAN Summit and Related Meetings in Manila last November.

The first phase of the Metro Manila Subway project will run from Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City through FTI in Taguig City and end at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Paranaque City.

The subway will help decongest traffic on EDSA and connect major business centers in Metro Manila to the NAIA, the DOF said.

Philippine and Japanese officials visited Cebu this week for the Philippines-Japan Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation.

The Philippine side was headed by Dominguez and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, while the Japanese delegation was headed by Hiroto Izumi, special advisor to Abe.

After the meeting, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) inked a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corp. for Transport and Urban Development (JOIN) and the Surbana Jurong for the implementation of the New Clark City project.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the Japan Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications also signed a Memorandum of Cooperation for the technical assistance to be extended by Tokyo for the development of the National Broadband Plan.

Meanwhile, Dominguez said both sides confirmed the candidate list of projects proposed for Japanese loan and financing.

He said one of these projects is the Arterial Road Bypass Project Phase III, which is also expected to be signed soon as all approvals have been secured on the Philippine side.

Dominguez said said both sides are also looking forward to the signing of the Exchange of Notes for the Tokyo’s grant financing for the Davao City Waste-to-Energy project, as well as the loan financing packages for the Pasig-Marikina Channel Improvement Project and the MRT-3 Rehabilitation and Improvement Project once all internal approvals are completed.

The finance chief said the Philippine government, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) would continue trilateral consultations on the co-financing of the Philippine National Railway (PNR) North 2 (Malolos to Clark) and South Commuter Line. He said the government is targeting for the partial operability of these railways by 2022.

“The Japanese side also discussed developments on the areas of our sectoral cooperation, such as regional development, information and communication and technology, energy, agriculture, environment, public safety (such as anti-illegal drug measures, maritime safety, space technology), and disaster prevention,” Dominguez said.