The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) seeks to assure Filipinos the P2.69-billion Chico River Pump Irrigation Project funded by the Chinese government will not fail.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia told the BusinessMirror that the government has instituted safeguard mechanisms to ensure that projects, including the Chico River Pump Irrigation project, funded by Beijing will all be aboveboard.
“We’re selecting the best of the three companies also pre-screened by their [China’s] NDRC [National Development and Reform Commission],” Pernia said via SMS on Sunday.
The Chico River Pump Irrigation Project is one of the first Beijing-funded projects in the country. It is among the priority projects to be funded by the Chinese government under its new cooperation framework with the Philippines.
Pernia said this is not the first time China will be financing an irrigation project in the Philippines, but it will be among the first in the current development-cooperation framework between the two countries.
Neda Undersecretary for Investment Programming Rolando G. Tungpalan also told the BusinessMirror that the Chico River project is the third China-assisted irrigation project in the country.
The first two projects are the Banaoang Pump Irrigation Project implemented in 2002 and the Agno river integrated irrigation project that commenced implementation in 2009.
“Cooperation with China started with the DA [Department of Agriculture] cooperation agreement,” Tungpalan said. “Hence, [the] first projects assisted by China Eximbank were agriculture-related, i.e., GenSan fish-port rehabilitation and Banaoang Pump.”
“It is us who proposed these irrigation projects [so that we will] have rural agriculture projects for farmers apart from transport projects,” he added.
Last week the Philippines and Chinese governments jump-started the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project in the Kalinga, Cordillera Administrative Region.
The project will involve the installation of pumps, the construction of pumping station, irrigation canals, facilities and other appurtenant structures, covering the municipalities of Tuao, Piat and Pinukpuk. It will be completed in three years.
Once completed, it will provide a stable supply of water to around 8700 hectares of agricultural land, benefiting 4350 households in 21 barangays in the Kalinga province and Cagayan province in Northern Luzon, and create hundreds of employment opportunities for the local people.
“The Chinese side will spare no efforts to build this project and make it a symbol of China-Philippines friendship…. I firmly believe that China-Philippines strategic mutual trust is bound to be much stronger and economic cooperation even closer. China, together with the Philippines, will continue to steer the ship of building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road toward a brighter future,” Chinese Embassy Commercial Counsellor Jin Yuan had said.
Yuan added that apart from the Chico River Pump Irrigation Project, the Chinese government has also began constructing two drug-rehabilitation centers in Mindanao; the first was in January and the second began in February.
He added that two bridges across Pasig River in Manila, funded through Chinese grant—the Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge and Binondo Intramuros Bridge—will begin at the end of the month.
Further, Beijing and Manila are already in the process of discussing projects to be included in the second basket of infrastructure cooperation projects, which will be financed by $10 billion worth of concessional loans from China.
“To the People’s Republic of China who unfailingly supports the projects of the Philippine government, especially to this irrigation project, thank you very much…. Let us continue to work hand in hand so that we may break more grounds for irrigation soon,” National Irrigation Administrator Ricardo Visaya said.
The groundbreaking ceremony was graced by Yuan and Visaya, as well as Kalinga Gov. Jocel C. Baac, Cagayan Gov. Manuel N. Mamba and other members of the local government and media.