The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has strengthened its partnership with Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) for the tunnel engineering and road infrastructure development in Davao.
A memorandum of cooperation (MOC) was signed on October 4 in Manila by DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan and Mikio Yoshioka, MLIT vice minister for engineering affairs, to further strengthen mutual cooperation, business relations and capacity development in relation to the construction and operation and maintenance (O&M) of road tunnels and related facilities in the ongoing Davao City Bypass Construction Project and the proposed Dalton Pass East Alternative Road Project.
Japan is a leading authority in tunneling technology as it has been at the forefront of advancement in construction and engineering with state-of-the-art equipment and world-renowned machineries, DPWH said. This nation also has a large network of controlled-access toll expressways.
With the signed MOC, a first workshop was also launched on the sharing and transfer of Japanese construction, O&M technologies and expertise to encourage business matchmaking of companies between the Philippines and Japan.
Emil Sadain, DPWH senior undersecretary, said technical assistance and loan grants from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) paved the way for some of the flagship infrastructure projects in the Philippines today.
JICA is the Philippines’ largest bilateral official development assistance partner with ongoing development cooperation projects nationwide across key sectors of infrastructure development, disaster risk reduction, health, education, agriculture, among others.
In support of the “build better more” campaign, Constante Llanes Jr., DPWH assistant secretary, said the country’s traffic decongestion program anchored on the master plan on high standard highway network development which includes the Davao City Bypass Road Project.
“We are very grateful to the MLIT for sharing expertise and transferring technology on the construction, operation and management of road tunnels with us. This technology will be extremely useful in bringing some of our flagship infrastructure projects to fruition,” said Sadain. – Myla Iglesias
