Three large-scale infrastructure projects have been presented by Manila to Beijing for possible loan financing, while nine others were submitted for feasibility study support during the just-concluded economic mission to China of a high-level delegation led by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III.
According to Dominguez, the three projects that will undergo China’s loan application process have already been approved by the board of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and the Investment Coordination Committee.
Dominguez and the rest of the Philippine team presented to China Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng these three projects with a combined total of $3.4 billion, during their two-day visit that ended on Tuesday.
These are the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project in the provinces of Cagayan and Kalinga with an estimated total project cost $53.6 million; the New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project in Quezon, $374.03 million; and the South Line of the North-South Railway Project (NSRP) running from Manila to Legazpi City in Bicol, $3.01 billion.
Dominguez said the Philippine government will apply the three priority projects for loan financing under the $3.4-billion assistance made available by the Export-Import Bank of China (China EXIM) to the Philippines, of which $2 billion are new commitments.
These projects aim to raise the productivity of small farmers, improve transportation and logistics services in underserved areas of Luzon, and ensure a steady water supply to Metro Manila, he said.
“We are looking at implementing large infra projects in the rural areas particularly in irrigation, logistics in bridges and roads to connect communities to the major markets,” Dominguez said in an interview with the Chinese media during the Jan. 23-24 mission.
Nine other projects that aim to interconnect the country’s three main island-groups, boost tourism, and construct a flood control system in Mindanao and ensure its stable power supply, were likewise presented by the Philippine team to Gao for feasibility study support.
These are the North Luzon Expressway East Project, Panay Guimaras-Negros Island Bridges, Davao City Expressway, Ambal-Simuay Sub-Basin of the Mindanao River Basin Flood Control and River Protection Project, Dinagat (Leyte)-Surigao Link Bridge, Luzon-Samar Link Bridge, Agus 3 Hydroelectric Plant, Pasacao-Balatan Tourism Coastal Development Program, and the Camarines Sur Expressway, with a total indicative cost of $1 billion.
Dominguez said the Philippine government has submitted the relevant documents and materials to Chinese officials to speed up the assessment process for these nine projects.
The 12 projects are part of the 40 “large and small” infra projects presented by the Philippines to China during the two-day mission.
Dominguez said the meeting of the high-level Philippine team with officials of China’s Commerce Ministry was a “productive first step towards achieving the desire of (Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping)” in further reinforcing ties between the two countries.”
Aside from Dominguez, the Philippine delegation included Secretaries Benjamin Diokno of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Arthur Tugade of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and Mark Villar of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH); and Director-General Ernesto Pernia of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
NEDA deputy director-general Rolando Tungpalan, DPWH Undersecretaries Emil Sadain and Karen Jimeno, and Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) president-CEO Vivencio Dizon were also part of the delegation.
Joining them were DOF Assistant Secretaries Ma. Edita Tan and Mark Dennis Joven, DOTr Assistant Secretaries Leah Merida Quiambao and Cesar Chavez, and Assistant Secretary Julia Nebrija of the Metro Manila Development Authority.
Dominguez said the generous assistance offered by China to the Philippines during the mission was among the concrete results of the President’s foreign policy rebalancing towards accelerated integration with the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and its major Asian trading partners China, Japan and South Korea.
He said that amid global uncertainty over a possible overhaul of US trade policies under the new presidency of Donald Trump, it was a “very smart” move by President Duterte to recalibrate the Philippines’ foreign policy early on and reorient the economy toward greater integration with its Asian neighbors.
“It makes good sense to be closer with our neighboring countries than with our distant friends,” he said.
In the meeting with Gao, Dominguez informed Chinese officials about the Duterte administration’s three priority objectives, which are to reduce poverty, develop a law-abiding citizenry, and establish a society whose citizens are at peace among themselves and with their neighbors in the international community.
Dominguez said the 40 projects discussed during the meeting aim to help realize the President’s primary goal of reducing poverty.
