Clark, Pampanga—Philippine and Japanese officials signed here Tuesday evening an agreement providing the government with a $202.04-million loan from Japan to finance the construction and improvement of roads in Mindanao’s conflict-affected areas, including the war torn city of Marawi.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the loan, equivalent to 21.92 billion yen, would cover several road sites in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and aim to reinvigorate local economies and reduce poverty by linking communities to Mindanao’s trade centers, thus, improving accessibility and the smooth flow of goods and services to and from these areas.
Signing the loan accord for the Road Network Development Project in Conflict-Affected Areas in Mindanao were Dominguez on behalf of the Philippines and Japan International Cooperation Agency senior vice president Yasushi Tanaka on behalf of the Japanese government.