Philippines taps Japan body in developing Subic master plan

MANILA, Philippines — The government has engaged the expertise of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, or JICA, in updating the master plan for the development of the Subic Bay and its surrounding areas.

In a statement, the Department of Finance said they informed senators about the plan during the recent plenary deliberations on the proposed budget of the DOF for 2020.

The Philippines and Japan signed last December 6 a memorandum of cooperation signifying the latter’s commitment to provide technical support to the formulation of a regional development master plan designed to maximize the economic potentials of the Subic Bay and its surrounding areas. 

According to the DOF, the proposed master plan will outline possible projects in Subic Bay and its surrounding areas in the fields of road network development, logistics terminal development, disaster risk management and other public utilities development.  

Ten loan agreements providing Japanese funding support for several big-ticket infrastructure projects under the Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program have been signed between Manila and Tokyo since 2016.

Japan remains to be the No. 1 provider of Official Development Assistance loans and grants to the Philippines, totaling $8.26 billion (46% share of the country’s total ODA loan portfolio) as of December 2018. — Ian Nicolas Cigaral