The government has engaged the expertise of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in updating the masterplan for the development of the Subic Bay and its surrounding areas, the Department of Finance (DOF) informed senators recently.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III relayed this information through Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara during the plenary deliberations on the proposed DOF budget for 2020.
Angara, who chairs the chamber’s finance committee, had sponsored the DOF budget on the Senate floor.
“Mr. (Senate) President, I was informed by the Secretary that they are engaging JICA to update the Subic masterplan,” Angara said in response to Senator Richard Gordon’s interpellation regarding the government’s plan for the development of the former US naval base located in his home province of Zambales.
Gordon was a former mayor of Olongapo City, which is adjacent to Subic. He was also the first administrator and chairman of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).
The Philippines and Japan signed last December 6 a memorandum of cooperation signifying the latter’s commitment to provide technical support to the Duterte administration’s formulation of a regional development master plan designed to maximize the economic potentials of the Subic Bay and its surrounding areas.
Earlier, the government, through the DOF, expressed deep appreciation to Japan for its commitment to provide technical assistance in crafting a master plan for the regional development of the Subic Bay and its surrounding areas.
The DOF said the commitment was conveyed to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte by Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during their bilateral meeting last Nov. 4, held on the sidelines of the 35th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit and Related Summits in Bangkok, Thailand.
“The two leaders affirmed that the Japanese assistance is a testament to the deepening strategic partnership between Japan and the Philippines,” the DOF said in a statement.
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 (10) 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 (ODA) loans and grants to the Philippines, totaling US$8.26 billion (46 percent share of the country’s total ODA loan portfolio) as of December 2018.
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