TOKYO—The Philippines and Japan signed here Monday an agreement for a 30-billion yen loan in support of the Philippine government’s continuing efforts to rapidly recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and fully return its economy to the path of high, inclusive growth.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and Mr. Akihiko Tanaka, the new President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), signed the agreement for the second phase of the COVID-19 Crisis Response Emergency Support Loan (CCRESL 2) on behalf of the governments of the Philippines and Japan, respectively.

The first phase of the CCRESL worth JPY 50 billion was signed between the two countries in July last year to assist the Philippine government’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 and provide economic relief to Filipinos hit the hardest by the pandemic.

Secretary Dominguez thanked the people and government of Japan for their continuing strong support for the Philippines’ development programs and pandemic response efforts.

He pointed out that Japan remains to be the Philippines’ biggest provider of official development assistance (ODA), with JICA—its foreign assistance arm—being an extremely reliable partner in helping implement the priority programs of the Duterte administration.

“The term of President Duterte’s administration ends in June of this year. We have accomplished much in improving our economy’s fiscal position and growth prospects. We would not have done this without the timely assistance of the people and the government of Japan,” Secretary Dominguez said before the signing of the agreement held at the JICA headquarters here.

Secretary Dominguez pointed out that Mr. Shinichi Kitaoka’s support as the outgoing JICA President to the Philippines’ development agenda has translated into more than JPY1 trillion-worth of financing for, among others, President Duterte’s signature infrastructure modernization program “Build, Build, Build,” which has “immensely improved the logistics backbone of our country; created quality jobs for our people; and brought down the costs of doing business.”

“JICA understands well the value of this program for our recovery and competitiveness in the new economy,” Secretary Dominguez said.

He also cited Japan’s assistance to the Philippines’ pandemic response, which, apart from loans and grants, included the donation of more than 3 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines.

“The support continues with today’s signing of this 30 billion yen loan agreement to aid the Philippine government’s COVID-19 response measures. As we intensify our climate action projects, we hope to also secure additional financing for natural and health-related disaster response programs,” Secretary Dominguez said.

Secretary Dominguez said Mr. Kitaoka has shown his strong support for President Duterte’s socioeconomic agenda focused on inclusive growth and infrastructure development, as well as for the Mindanao peace process, in the five and a half years that they have worked intensively together and became good friends.

“I am sure that incoming JICA President Akihiko Tanaka will be as supportive of the Philippines’ development programs as his predecessor was. The friendship between our two countries withstood the test of time. It will continue to be so in the coming years,” Secretary Dominguez said.

The 2nd phase of the CCRESL was signed between the two countries in recognition of the Philippines’ accomplishments and plans in vaccinating its target population against COVID-19 and expanding the capability of its healthcare system to meet the challenges of possible public health emergencies in the future.

Equivalent to about P12.3 billion or US$234.36 million, the CCRESL 2 package carries concessional lending terms of 0.01 percent (one-hundredth of a percent) fixed interest rate per annum with a maturity period of 15 years, inclusive of a 4-year grace period–the same as with the first JPY50-billion CRESL.

Japan’s support to the Philippines during the pandemic included: 1) the donation of 3.09 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines, 2) budgetary support financing through CCRESL1 and the 2nd phase of the Post Disaster Stand-by Loan (PDSL)) worth a combined US$ 867 million, and 3) COVID-19 related grant aid (e.g. cold chain logistics, crisis response, provision of medical equipment) worth US$ 25.18 million.

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