PH eyes other funding source for transport projects after loss of interest from China

The national government is looking for other funding sources to bankroll its big-ticket transport infrastructure projects after China’s interest to finance them apparently waned, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said.

DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista confirmed that the department is currently finding other lending sources after three DOTr projects — the South Long Haul Project, Mindanao Railway Project, and Subic-Clark Railway — were supposedly dropped as interest for its funding through the Chinese official development assistance (ODA) has “waned.”

“Iyon ang hahanapan namin ng additional funding or replacement (That’s what we will look additional funding or replacement for),” Bautista said on the sidelines of the German–Philippine Chamber of Commerce & Industry luncheon meeting on Thursday, Oct. 26.

“We will look for another funding source. We are working on that now,” he added.

The Philippine National Railways (PNR) South Long Haul Project, also dubbed as PNR Bicol, refers to a P175-billion proposed inter-city rail line in southern Luzon beginning at Banlic station in Calamba, Laguna and terminating at Daraga, Albay.

Meanwhile, the Mindanao Railway Project is a 1,544-kilometer-long inter-city rail project in Mindanao that seeks to connect major cities in the island namely Davao to Surigao, and traversing key cities and provinces like General Santos, Marbel, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Pagadian, Digos, Dipolog, Zamboanga, and Surigao. The Phase 1 of the infrastructure project reportedly has an initial funding of P83 billion.

On the other hand, the P50-billion Subic-Clark Railway project involves the construction of a 71.13-km rail located in the western section of Central Luzon.

The DOTr has requested assistance from the Department of Finance (DOF) to help them find replacement for the Chinese ODA, Bautista said.

Among other sources of developmental assistance includ those from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Bautista enumerated.

“There are other governments talking to us with the possibility of supporting the financing of these projects,” he added.

The Chinese-backed transportation projects were reportedly stalled due to lack of funding.

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