The ongoing construction of the Metro Manila Subway Project line 9 northbound (File photo from NOY MORCOSO/INQUIRER.net)
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines and Japan on Tuesday inked a 250-billion yen loan agreement for the construction of the Metro Manila Subway and the Dalton Pass East Alignment Road.
The amount is equivalent to P92.9 billion pesos.
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In a statement, the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines said their Deputy Chief of Mission Matsuda Kenichi and Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo signed the Exchange of Notes for the Dalton Pass East Alignment Road Project (I) and the Metro Manila Subway Project (Phase I).
“The Dalton Pass East Alignment Road Project (I) provides [official development assistance] loans to the Philippine government for the construction of a bypass road for the Dalton Pass, a major arterial road linking Metro Manila and north-central Luzon,” said the embassy.
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“Meanwhile, the Metro Manila Metro Project (Phase 1) is financing for the construction of the first metro in the Philippines, following the first tranche signed on November 13, 2017 [amounting to] 104,530 million yen and the second tranche signed on July 27, 2021 [with the cost of] 253,307 million yen,” it added.
The embassy then noted that the maximum loan amount of the two projects amounted to 250 billion yen, with an interest rate of 0.3 percent per annum.
Its repayment period, on the other hand, is set to 40 years — including a 10-year grace period.
Both the construction of the Metro Manila Subway and the Dalton Pass East Alignment Road are seen to benefit Filipinos.
The Dalton Pass Road Project is expected to “improve access and connectivity between north-central Luzon and Metro Manila” while the subway project is expected to “contribute to sustainable economic growth through investment promotion in the Philippines.”