The Department of Finance (DoF) secured Japanese financing for five projects worth over P65 billion to expand the country’s road and improve the flood control infrastructure.

In a statement on Monday, DoF said Finance Secretary Ralph Recto and Special Advisor to the Japanese Prime Minister Dr. Mori Masafumi discussed the financing agreements.

The talks were part of the 15th Philippines-Japan High-Level Joint Committee Meeting on Infrastructure Development and Economic Cooperation.

Among the projects that will be co-funded by Japan is the Davao City Bypass Construction Project III. The road will stretch 45.5 kilometers and will have four lanes. The Japanese aid for this project costs 35 billion yen or P17.67 billion.

Once the project has been completed, the DoF expects further business activities in Davao City, the largest economic contributor in Mindanao.

Davao City achieved P532.5 trillion in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023, representing 15 percent of GDP of the entire Mindanao island.

Hope up for delayed anti-flood bid

Another project slated for funding is the Pasig-Marikina River Channel Improvement Project Phase IV. The DoF said this will prevent massive flooding throughout Metro Manila as the project will consist of dikes, flood gates, and channel dredging. Japan allocated 45.76 billion yen or P17.45 billion for this project.

Third is the Cavite Industrial Area Flood Risk Management Project (II) which will prevent overflows in the San Juan River Basin and the Maalimango Creek Drainage Area. The foreign aid for this project is 14.48 billion yen or P5.52 billion.

Fourth is the Climate Change Action Subprogram 2 which will consist of various measures on disaster preparedness and climate change mitigation and adaptation. The government will mobilize 35 billion yen, or about P13.35 billion, from Japan for this project.

Last is the Build Universal Health Care Subprogram 2 which focuses on preventing and treating gender-specific and climate change-linked illnesses. Japan set aside 30 billion yen or P11.44 billion for this project.

Department of Budget and Management Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said a new budgeting framework is being crafted with the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to better assess the effectiveness and impact of government projects.

Big projects to be indentified

“First, we will identify the big projects that we have from different agencies, and we will get professionals to help monitor each of the projects so that, at the end of the day, we will know if these projects have been beneficial to our people,” she said in a meeting of the Makati Business Club in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

Under the National Budget for 2025, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. approved conditional implementation for foreign-assisted projects. Pangandaman said these projects might need clear guidelines or an examination of laws and policies before they can be started.

The DoF said Philippine and Japanese officials also discussed ways to maximize benefits from public-private partnerships and official development assistance (ODA).

NEDA Undersecretary Joseph Capuno said the government has two more years or until 2027 to avail of ODA’s concessional loans if the Philippines moves up to upper middle income status this year. Concessional loans offer low to zero interest rates.

“We’re talking with the implementing agencies to speed up the preparations for the flagship infrastructure projects to be elevated to the NEDA board and for approval within the next two years to take advantage of that window opportunity,” NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.

Even past the deadline, he said the government can still obtain low interest rates from foreign creditors due to the Philippines’ strong economic growth, signaling its high capacity to repay debts.