By Chino S. Leyco

Japan remained the top provider of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to the Philippines as of September, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) reported yesterday.

In a statement, NEDA said that Japan’s loans and grants for the Philippines stood at $5.98 billion, accounting for 41.20 percent of the country’s total active ODA portfolio.

Japan was followed by the World Bank with $3.13 billion (21.56 percent) and the Asian Development Bank with $2.24 billion (15.44 percent).

In fourth place is the United States of America with total active ODA amounting to $807 million (5.56 percent), followed by South Korea with $660 million in loans and grants (4.55 percent).

Other ODA providers are Australia, United Nations System, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, France, EU, China, Germany, OPEC Fund for International Development, Italy, Canada, Spain, and New Zealand.

The total net commitment of the country’s active ODA portfolio as of September 2018, based on the data generated in December 2018, reached $14.5 billion, with total grants amounting to $2.22 billion and total loans amounting to $12.28 billion.

One of the notable projects financed by Japan is the first phase of the Metro Manila Subway Project which comprises the construction of a 25.3-kilometer subway.

The subway will run from Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City to FTI in Taguig, with an extension to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The governments of the Philippines and Japan signed the P50-billion loan agreement for the Metro Manila Subway Project on March 16, 2018. The project is expected to break ground in January 2019.

“As we assess 2018, we look at our development partners full of appreciation and gratitude. They have been constantly beside us in our efforts to pursue much-needed reforms, and both social and physical infrastructures to reach our goals,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia said.

Pernia noted that the government, for its part, must take the lead in ensuring that these projects will create lasting change in the lives of Filipino people.