Duterte administration raises P1 T in ODA

MANILA, Philippines - The Duterte administration has raised roughly P1 trillion in official development assistance (ODA) in its first seven months in office, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said.

“From July 1st to now, the President has raised close to P1 trillion in ODA. And I’m only counting the amounts from China and Japan, and there’s more ODA that we have received but haven’t counted in from various countries,” Dominguez said, emphasizing that he was referring to ODA alone, not trade deals.

Dominguez said this is a historic first for a new president to attract a huge number of ODA, which are outright grants and loans given by foreign governments to support developing countries. 

It is characterized by low-interest and long-term or concessional funds to help finance the recipient’s development efforts.

The Duterte administration has received $9 billion or the equivalent of roughly P448 billion in ODA each from China and Japan.

“The ODA from Japan, as announced by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is one trillion yen, which is equivalent to more or less $9 billion,” Dominguez said.

Abe recently made a historic visit to the Philippines, the first visit of a head of state under the administration of President Duterte.

The finance chief said the government has already submitted the list of projects to China last November which would be financed from its ODA.

These include the rehabilitation of the Agus River project that would include irrigation projects in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and a seaport in Cebu, among other infrastructure projects.

“Our team is going to China in the third week of January to discuss how to make progress in the projects that we have submitted to them,” Dominguez said.

For the financial assistance from Japan, the Duterte administration would start lining up the projects next week to discuss in more detail the terms from Japan.

He welcomed the foreign aid from China and Japan, which he said, the Philippines did not request but are voluntary offers from the two countries.

“I think they (China and Japan) are collaborating to help our country more ahead. I think they see a lot of potential in the Philippine economy, potential for our growth and potential for them to do business here,” Dominguez said.

For his part, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said the P1 trillion ODA from China and Japan alone in less than seven months “reflects these countries’ complete trust and confidence in the leadership of President Duterte.”

“The ODA from China and Japan as well as from other countries will certainly offset the loss of our allotment in the Millennium Fund from the United States following the Obama administration’s unfounded allegations of human rights violations in the course of President Duterte’s war on drugs,” Andanar said.