Japan to fund $2.4-B railway to ease Metro traffic

JAPAN yesterday announced it is pouring a massive $2.4 billion into a new railway in the Philippines aimed at easing Manila’s notorious gridlock.

Japan, the Philippines’ top trading partner and source of aid, said the 38-kilometer elevated commuter line would connect Manila to nearby Bulacan province to decongest the capital and help spur economic activity.

“This is one of the biggest projects Japan has ever embarked upon using the yen loan,” Masato Ohtaka, deputy press secretary for Japan’s foreign ministry, told reporters in Manila.
“Railways are one of our fortes…We sympathize with the Filipinos that this is a project that needs to be done very, very quickly.”

Ohtaka said Japan was also open to building a railway in the southern region of Mindanao, a project President Duterte had previously said China offered to fund.

The Philippines has sought to strengthen ties with former World War II foe Japan as it faces a tense maritime dispute with Beijing over the South China Sea.

The railway was among the topics visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida discussed with Mr. Duterte on Thursday in Davao City.

$64M a day

Mr. Duterte, who assumed office on June 30, has said reducing traffic congestion and fixing the deteriorating transport system are priorities for his administration.

Metro Manila’s traffic problems cost the Philippines an estimated $64 million a day in 2015, a Japanese-funded study found.

Railway commuters endure long lines and overcrowding is common in trains that sometimes stop between stations or even overshoot their tracks.

Mr. Duterte has even declined invitations for engagements in Manila, saying he wants to avoid worsening the congestion.
The Japanese loan is for the Philippine transportation department, payable over 40 years, though Ohtaka did not give a timeline for the project.
Japan is also donating coast guard vessels and leasing aircraft to boost the Philippines’ weak military and maritime capabilities.
Japan faces a separate dispute with China over uninhabited islets in the East China Sea.
Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay said on Thursday Manila and Tokyo shared the same experience of dealing with Beijing’s “intimidation” at sea.
Yasay and Kishida urged Beijing to observe the rule of law after an international tribunal rejected its claims to most of the South China Sea.
The two brand-new 90-meter multirole response vessels will be in addition to 10 44-meter midsized coast guard ships, worth P8.8 billion, that Japan is set to start delivering next week.

“Both governments are looking into the possibility of getting two more vessels, this time the bigger ones,” Ohtaka said.

Dialogues

“We’re in the middle of dialogue between the two sides, they are still discussing details and we need a little more time.”

The ship delivery figured in an 80-minute meeting between Mr. Duterte and Kishida on Thursday.

“We talked about how Japan can help the Philippines in capacity building, particularly with regards to maritime security,” Ohtaka added.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea where about $5 trillion worth of trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims on the sea believed to have rich deposits of oil and gas.

Japan has no claim in the South China Sea but it is in dispute with China over small islands in the East China Sea.

China says it has “indisputable sovereignty” over the area it claims and has refused to recognize the court ruling handed down last month in a case brought by the Philippines.

Japan urged China to adhere to the ruling, saying it was binding, prompting a warning from China not to interfere.

“We are very concerned,” Ohtaka said, adding that developments in the East China Sea could parallel those in the South China Sea, where Beijing has stepped up the constant presence of its coast guard ships. AP, AFP