By Beting Laygo Dolor, Contributing Editor
Three big ticket projects to be funded by China may no longer push through.
The mega projects were announced to wide fanfare during the previous Duterte regime as part of its flagship “Build, Build, Build” program but China is said to have lost interest in funding the three railway projects.
Unless the government can find other sources of financing, the Mindanao Railway Project, the South Long Haul Railway Project, and the Subic-Clark Railway Project will be considered shelved.
Loan negotiations had stalled after Rodrigo Duterte stepped down as president in place of Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who veered away from his predecessor’s “tweak” towards China.
Transportation Sec. Jaime Bautista confirmed last week that China had all but lost interest in funding and developing the three projects.
Speaking to local media, Bautista said in that the three projects funded by China “will no longer push through.”
He said that China was “no longer interested in pursuing the projects” and that “We can’t wait forever.”
The three were among the 197 infrastructure flagship projects that had gotten the go signal from the National Economic and Development Authority.
Without stating the amount involved, Bautista said feasibility and engineering studies for the three mega projects had already been completed at the government’s expense.
According to Bautista, “It’s a matter of funding and implementation.”
It is worth noting that China started to become reluctant to pursue the projects at around July of 2022 or shortly after Ferdinand Marcos Jr assumed the presidency and made known his policy of tweaking back towards the US, the country’s longtime political and economic ally.
According to Transportation Undersecretary for Railways Cesar Chavez, China “failed to act” on the Philippines’ request for Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the rail projects, putting a halt to all planned construction activities.
After the talks with China hit a snag, the Philippine National Railways began looking for alternate sources of funding for the South Long Haul Project.
The same could be said of the two other big rail projects.
Construction for the first phase of the Mindanao Railway Project, or the portion connecting Tagum to Digos via Davao City, was scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2022. The Subic-Clark Railway Project, meanwhile, was set to be up and running also last year. The South Long Haul Project, on the other hand, was seen to be completed by 2027.
The Transportation department has not totally abandoned the three projects, however. Bautista said the government is considering funding the projects through a combination of ODA from other countries as well as funding from the national budget. The private sector may also be tapped to finance the projects.
Japan has been mentioned as a possible replacement for China, as it has provided ODA to the country in the past. However, should Japan agree to fund the rail projects, it will very likely start at square one, disregarding the studies done by China.
This move, however, will very likely see the costs of the projects balloon further.
Bautista said initial talks with an unnamed “Asian ambassador” appeared promising but added he was not at liberty to discuss the details.
The Philippines’ withdrawal from loan talks came as tensions with China have worsened following a series of aggressive steps taken by the Asian superpower to block Philippine supply ships as well as local fisherfolk to head for Ayungin Shoal. China claims the area as theirs but the Philippines says it is well within the country’s exclusive economic zone.
The latest incident saw a China Coast Guard ship collide with a Philippine boat in a maneuver that Marcos described as “dangerous, illegal, and reckless.”
Bautista, however, dispelled the possibility that tensions over the West Philippine Sea had influenced negotiations with China.
