Finance Secretary Dominguez thanks Japan for the release of P4.6 billion loan
MANILA – The Philippines received Japan’s final disbursement under the second phase of the JPY 50 billion Post-Disaster Standby Loan (PDSL-2) package extended to the country. This is a quick disbursement facility that allows Japanese funding support in multiple releases for post-disaster response efforts should there be a national calamity or health emergency.
In a statement from the Department of Finance, Secretary Dominguez thanked the people and government of Japan for the approval of the fourth and final tranche amount to JPY10-billion or P4.6 billion, which will be utilized by the government to provide emergency cash grants to vulnerable sectors in the National Capital Region (NCR). The disbursement was due to the declaration of an Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in the NCR in August to stem the surge of the deadline COVID-19 Delta variant.
Pursuant to the agreement between the Japanese and Philippine governments for the PDSL-2, signed September last year, the disbursement of the standby loan will be made available through a declaration of a state of calamity or a state of public health emergency by the Duterte government. In the case of the current COVID-19, the imposition of an ECQ or its equivalent on the NCR or in any other highly urbanized area in the Philippines will case the disbursement of the loan facility.
It has a total amount of JPY 50 billion which will be released in four installments and coursed through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The first tranche worth JPY10 billion was released on October 27,2020 due to Presidential Proclamation No. 1021 declaring a State of Calamity across the country until September 12,2021.
JICA released the second tranche amount to JPY10 billion on January 5,2021 after the executive issued Presidential Proclamation No. 1051 on November 18,2020 which declared a State of Calamity in the entire Luzon Island.
The Japanese agency released JPY20 billion last June 8,2021 after the government issued four IATF resolutions on the new ECQ in the NCR Plus Bubble, Extending the ECQ in the NCR Plus Bubble, Imposing a Modified ECQ in the NCR Plus Bubble and the extension of the MECQ until May 14,2021.
The fourth and final tranche worth JPY10 billion was due to the IATF Resolution which placed NCR under ECQ from August 6 to 20.
Secretary Dominguez requested JICA Chief Representative Eigo Azukizawa for the release of the final tranche of the PDSL-2 loan to support the government’s implementation of its Social Amelioration Program (SAP) which hopes to provide emergency subsidies to low-income households and displaced workers in the NCR, which was declared under ECQ as a preemptive measure against the latest COVID variant.
The loan was approved due to the Philippines’ plans and accomplishments in policy and institutional framework for disaster risk reduction and management, financial resilience to natural disasters and climate change and public health emergency preparedness. (Melo M. Acuña)
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III. (File Photo/Melo M. Acuna)
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