RP, China eye new ODA deal

BY BERNARDETTE S. STO. DOMINGO, BusinessWorld Reporter THE PHILIPPINES AND CHINA expect to sign a fresh five-year official development assistance (ODA) package within the year, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said, putting paid to a controversy that some observers said would affect bilateral ties. Beijing, Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Augusto B. Santos said, remained committed to investing and providing aid to the Philippines despite Malacañang’s decision last year to cancel a controversial telecommunications deal. "The agreement on Chinese official development assistance (ODA) will be signed in Manila, most likely within the first half of the year," Mr. Santos told BusinessWorld last week. Deputy Director-General Rolando G. Tungpalan, in a separate interview on Wednesday, said the bilateral facility was "being proposed for signing" and that the Department of Foreign Affairs was finalizing the details. "There are no indicative projects with China yet so we have not pegged any amount," Mr. Tungpalan said. "There are priority areas but no specific projects. For instance, the Northrail to Dagupan — that’s an indication of what type of projects we would like to work out with them." Mr. Tungpalan said the fresh ODA from China would be used to fund projects in the infrastructure, agri-business, information and communication technology, and tourism sectors. Florante G. Igtiben, chief economic development specialist at the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) , said the Chinese government had set aside about $1.8 billion for Philippine projects since 2004. "We can expect more on top of the existing facility once the five-year plan is signed. At the moment, it’s still being worked out," he said. The projects, he added, are expected to go through the China Projects Oversight Panel. The committee, created by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last September, was tasked to review projects funded by Chinese ODA after the controversial $330-million National Broadband Network Project was dropped. "NEDA has its own process. The panel is in charge of overseeing Chinese ODA-funded projects so all the projects will have to go through it," he said. Trade Secretary Peter B. Favila heads the oversight committee, whose members include Budget Secretary Rolando G. Andaya, Jr., Presidential Management Staff Director-General Cerge M. Remonde, a church leader and a representative of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines. Mr. Remonde on Wednesday said the projects to be identified for the five-year development plan will have to be reviewed. He said the committee was still reviewing a list of China-funded projects, proposed or ongoing, submitted by government agencies last year. In a previous interview, former NEDA Director-General Romulo Neri said the Philippines was looking to source a bigger chunk of its ODA from China, noting that other sources, Japan in particular, needed to streamline its "slow" processing approval. He said China, as an emerging ODA donor, was "quicker in action and results of requests could be out in a matter of months." Mr. Neri, who has been transferred to the Commission on Higher Education, was one of the key personalities involved in the ZTE deal, having testified that elections commissioner Benjamin S. Abalos, Sr. had offered a bribe to facilitate the deal. The controversy had a losing bidder charging that Mrs. Arroyo’s husband, Jose Miguel, pressured him into abandoning his proposal and that Mr. Abalos had also offered a bribe. Mr. Arroyo has denied the charge, while Mr. Abalos, threatened with impeachment charges, resigned as poll chief. The government last year announced that China was making available $6 billion to $10 billion in loans over the next three to five years to finance infrastructure projects in the Philippines. Government data show Japan, through the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, remains the country’s largest source of ODA loans, followed by the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, the United Kingdom, and China.