Japan reiterates commitment to RP development

The Japanese government has vowed to continue supporting development projects in the Philippines despite current difficulties in the global economy.

"Although Japan continues to find itself heavily burdened by serious economic and fiscal strains, the people and government of Japan are still committed to ODA (or official development assistance) contributions to the Philippines," government documents show.

Japan had committed roughly P40 billion (¥102.456 billion) to the Philippines in ODA loans as of end-September 2001, according to the official report.

Japan has been the biggest bilateral donor of the Philippines since the 1970s. Even in the recently-concluded Consultative Group meeting of the Philippines with the donor communities early last month, it was reported that Japan accounted for bulk of the total $2.8 billion in financial assistance committed by foreign lenders to the Philippines.

The country is the third largest user of Japanese ODA as of 1999 after China and Indonesia with a cumulative ODA portfolio of $8.839 billion, the report noted. ODAs are concessional loans, or soft loans, granted by bilateral and multilateral institutions in support of development projects undertaken by the government.

The biggest component of the Japan ODA from January-September 2001 was the Yen Loan package funding nine projects with a total cost of P21.6 billion (¥54.037 billion). It compromises the bulk or 54 percent of the total ODA funds granted during the period.

The projects include the arterial road links development (phase V), the Metro Manila intercharge construction (phase V), selected airports development, rural road network development (phase III), help for Catubig agricultural advancement, Mindanao sustainable settlement area development, Agno River integrated flood control (phase II-B), Laoag River basin flood control and Sabo project and the sustainable environment management project in Northern Palawan.

The Subic-Clark-Tarlac Toll Road project is the single biggest project being financed by the Japanese government in the Philippines under the Special Yen Loan package, otherwise known as the "Obuchi Fund" named after Japanese prime minister Keizo Obuchi. The project cost stood at a staggering P16.8 billion (¥42 billion).

Meanwhile, the country‘s biggest bilateral donor also provided a total of P2.57 billion (¥6.119 billion) in technical assistance in support of six projects.