BSP okays $235.6M worth of ODA from Japan, S Korea

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has approved $235.6 million worth of official development assistance (ODA) from Japan and South Korea to finance various infrastructure projects in agriculture and transportation.

The BSP approved three separate projects funded under the 27th yen loan package of Japan and a funding facility under the Export-Import Bank of Korea.

BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said the Monetary Board approved an equivalent of $65.5 million for phase 3 of the Pinatubo Urgent Hazard Mitigation Project and another $99.2 million for phase 3 of the Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Support Project.

According to Tetangco, these two projects would be funded out of the 27th yen loan package through the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

Tetangco said that based on the final loan papers approved by the Monetary Board, the Pinatubo project would support the government’s recovery efforts in Central Luzon from the damage caused by the Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1991.

The Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Support Project (ARISP-Phase III) on the other hand, would finance agrarian-reform related livelihood and infrastructure projects.

Japan has been one of the country’s biggest agrarian reform donors, funding major projects in newly established agrarian reform communities, with ARISP I and ARISP II covering more than 220 agrarian reform communities throughout the country.

Tetangco said the Monetary Board also approved the loan from the Eximbank of Korea and the Economic Development Cooperation Fund of Korea amounting to an equivalent of $70.9 million, a mixed credit facility for the Laguindingan Airport Development Project.

Laguindingan Airport is located in Misamis Oriental in Mindanao, intended to replace the Cagayan de Oro airport in the Cagayan-Iligan Corridor. The total development cost was estimated at $167 million. Contracted for the project was Hanjin Industries Construction Co. Ltd. of Korea, with funding coming mainly from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund of Korea, the Export-Import Bank of Korea, Nordic Investment Bank and the national government with some counterpart financing.

The new airport would serve the growth corridor covering the provinces of Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, and the island province of Camiguin.

According to the Department of Transportation and Communication, the main civil works for the airport would involve the construction of the runway and the buildings for new passenger and cargo terminals, air traffic control tower/operation, maintenance, power house, administration, cold water receiving station, fuel farm, and waste water treatment plant.

The airport would be constructed on a 400-hectare property in Laguindingan, with Ayala Land Corp. donating 94 hectares.