The 20 billion yen, or about P8.71 billion, disbursed by Japan to the Philippines will assist the country in its coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) response efforts, especially in providing emergency assistance to vulnerable sectors, the Department of Finance (DOF) said yesterday.
The disbursement, which the Philippine government received this month, represents the third tranche of the Post-Disaster Standby Loan (PDSL-2) extended by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to the Philippines in September last year.
The first and second tranches amounting to 10 billion yen each were released last October 27, 2020, and January 5, 2021, respectively.
Carlos Dominguez, DOF secretary, thanked the Japanese government for approving the disbursement, saying the amount will help meet the Philippine government’s huge financial requirements when it distributed emergency cash aid to families affected by the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and modified ECQ (MECQ) that were imposed in the National Capital Region (NCR) and nearby provinces on March 27 to May 14 of this year, following the surge in COVID-19 infections in these areas.
PDSL-2 aims to quickly disburse Japanese funding support for post-disaster response efforts in the event of a national calamity or health emergency.
Under this agreement, the disbursement of the standby loan to the Philippines will be made available through the declaration of a state of calamity or declaration of a state of public health emergency.
In case of the current COVID-19 pandemic or any other public health emergency, the imposition of an ECQ or its equivalent in the NCR or in any other highly urbanized area in the country will trigger the disbursement of the loan.
The DOF said Dominguez wrote JICA Philippines chief representative Eigo Azukizawa last May 11 to request for the disbursement of the 20 billion yen fund.
The declarations of ECQ and MECQ in NCR and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal, collectively known as the NCR Plus, served as the triggers for disbursements under PDSL-2, Dominguez said.
“We hope to utilize the amount to be disbursed under PDSL-2 to support a portion of the total requirement for the implementation of the Social Amelioration Program and other mechanisms necessary to properly implement COVID-19 response and recovery interventions in the country,” Dominguez said in his letter.
In announcing the 20 billion yen disbursement, Azukizawa said, “JICA will continue to support our partner countries like the Philippines in building back better from the COVID-19 crisis.”
“The disbursement hopefully will support the social amelioration program for vulnerable people and sectors, and thereby cushioning the economic impact of the Pandemic in the Philippines particularly job losses and support economic recovery efforts,” he added.
Equivalent to about P23.3 billion, the PDSL-2 will be available for quick disbursement in multiple tranches within three years, once the loan is declared effective, and may be extended for an additional three-year period for up to four times.
Based on data from DA’s Bantay Presyo, as of yesterday (June 22), pork kasim has a prevailing per kg price of P340 while liempo is at P370 per kg.
