Duterte: PHL ready to pursue more projects with China

President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said the Philippines is ready to pursue more projects with China under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Duterte gave the assurance during his meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing, which is hosting the second edition of the Belt and Road forum that started in 2017.

“Congratulations on what would surely be a successful hosting of the Second Belt and Road forum. The Philippines’ continued participation in this forum is an acknowledgment of the vision of a global connectivity for shared prosperity,” the President said in his opening remarks.

“For the signing of the MOU [memorandum of understanding] on cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, the Philippines is ready to pursue more projects with China.”

It was not clear whether Duterte had more to say after that since the media were already “asked to leave the room,” according to the official transcript provided by the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO).

Duterte’s pronouncement came in the face of concerns that the Philippines may have to give up oil and gas in the Manila-claimed Reed Bank in the South China Sea in case it defaults in its payment of the $62-million loan from China for the Chico River pump irrigation project.

Environmental groups and party-list group Bayan Muna also said the China-funded Kaliwa Dam project will displace indigenous people and submerge villages in Rizal and Quezon provinces.

Malacañang, however, said that the terms of the loan agreements were "competently and fully negotiated" by the Philippines and China "on equal footing."

The Department of Finance also shrugged off speculations that the Philippines might fall into a Chinese debt trap, noting that by 2022—when most of the financing for the “Build, Build Build” infrastructure program should have been accessed—the projected debt to China will comprise 4.5 percent of the total debt as against 9.5 percent from Japan.

Earlier in the day, Duterte told Chinese President Xi Jinping that the Philippines envisions “high-quality and good impact projects” with China.

"The sooner they are completed, the sooner people on the ground will feel the benefits of Philippine-China relations," Duterte said.

Duterte also told Xi of the Philippines’ openness to more projects under the BRI, according to presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo.

Panelo said the President emphasized the  “principles of transparency and adherence to international law while reiterating both countries’ commitment in implementing various projects at the soonest possible time, meeting targets closely and ensuring that proper procedures and requirements are observed.”

In his meeting with Li, the President said the cooperation between the two countries has “expanded tremendously” since he first visited China in October 2016.

“And we envision a more comprehensive, strategic cooperation. And I look forward to bolster engagements on the basis of mutual trust and [confidence],” he said.

Launched by China in 2013, the BRI seeks to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes.

Under the MOU that was signed during Xi’s state visit to Manila in November last year, the Philippines and China will work together to achieve “sustainable growth and development” through the BRI and with “strictest respect for national laws, rules, regulations and policies."

The two countries will be guided by principles of "mutual respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty" and "complete transparency in their common endeavors to expand mutually beneficial cooperation."

Both sides recognized that the “most sustainable growth of a country should not be at the expense of another, and that national progress is not a zero-sum game.”

The two countries committed to conduct "regular dialogues” on "key macroeconomic policies and development strategies."

The other areas of cooperation identified in the MOU were infrastructure development and connectivity, trade and investment, financial cooperation and socio-cultural exchanges. —NB, GMA News