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Japan to fund $2.4-B railway to ease Manila's hellish traffic

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/news-special1/nation/8/12/duterte-kishida-081216.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">President Rodrigo Duterte (L) greets visiting Japanese Foreign Minister, Fumio Kishida, during his courtesy call at the presidential guest house in Davao city, southern Philippines August 11, 2016.</div></figcaption></figure></div><div><span style="line-height:1.6">Japan on Friday announced it is pouring a massive $2.4 billion into a new railway in the Philippines aimed at easing Manila&#x27;s notorious gridlock.</span></div><p>Japan, Philippines&#x27; top trading partner and source of aid, said the 38-kilometer (24-mile) elevated commuter line would connect Manila to nearby Bulacan province to decongest the capital and help spur economic activity.</p><p>&quot;This is one of the biggest projects Japan has ever embarked upon using the yen loan,&quot; Masato Ohtaka, deputy press secretary for Japan&#x27;s foreign ministry, told reporters in Manila.</p><p>&quot;Railways are one of our fortes ... We sympathise with the Filipinos that this is a project that needs to be done very, very quickly.&quot;</p><p>Ohtaka said Japan was also open to building a railway in the southern region of Mindanao, a project Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte had previously said China offered to fund.</p><p>The Philippines has sought to strengthen ties with former World War II foe Japan as it faces a tense maritime dispute with Beijing over the South China Sea.</p><p>The railway was among the topics visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida discussed with Duterte on Thursday in the southern city of Davao.</p><p>Duterte, who assumed office on June 30, has said reducing traffic congestion and fixing the deteriorating transport system are priorities for his administration.</p><p>Manila&#x27;s traffic problems cost the Philippines an estimated $64 million a day in 2015, a Japanese-funded study found.</p><p>In Manila, railway commuters endure long lines and overcrowding is common in trains that sometimes stop between stations or even overshoot their tracks.</p><p>Duterte has even declined invitations for engagements in Manila, saying he wants to avoid worsening the congestion.</p><p>The Japanese loan is for the Philippine transportation department, payable over 40 years, though Ohtaka did not give a timeline for the project.</p><p>Japan is also donating coast guard vessels and leasing aircraft to boost the Philippines&#x27; weak military and maritime capabilities.</p><p>Japan faces a separate dispute with China over uninhabited islets in the East China Sea.</p><p>Philippine foreign secretary Perfecto Yasay said Thursday Manila and Tokyo shared the same experience of dealing with Beijing&#x27;s &quot;intimidation&quot; at sea.</p><p>Yasay and Kishida urged Beijing to observe the rule of law after an international tribunal rejected its claims to most of the South China Sea.</p><div><strong>© 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>Japan on Friday announced it is pouring a massive $2.4 billion into a new railway in the Philippines aimed at easing Manila's notorious gridlock.</p>

Japan on Friday announced it is pouring a massive $2.4 billion into a new railway in the Philippines aimed at easing Manila's notorious gridlock.