Philippines Ambassador to China Jose Santiago Sta. Romana said Tuesday the Philippines should wait until 2017 in fleshing out the $15-billion framework agreements generated during the recent state visit of President Rodrigo Duterte to the world’s second-biggest economy.
“What is next for us is the challenge to flesh out the agreements. Most of them are still MOUs (memorandum of understanding) and MOAs (memorandum of agreement). Those with the Tourism and Agriculture Departments can be done faster the rest,” he said after he spoke at the Management Association of the Philippines general membership meeting in Makati City.
“The pledges have not come in yet, so they’re just estimated or expected investments. I think it will be next year when most of the pledges will come in as FDI and in over five years,” he said.
The Philippines clinched $15 billion worth of deals in 13 different agreements during the visit of President Duterte to China, on top of $6 billion in concessional loans from Export-Import Bank of China and $3 billion in credit facility from Bank of China.
Sta. Romana said China was also interested to extend financial aid in the form of overseas development assistance which can be patterned after the Japan ODA.
The Chinese government extended Rmb 100 million during the China trip as ODA to the Philippines for its anti-drug campaign.
“This will used to set up more rehabilitation centers and for the needs of the PNP (Philippine National Police). They can spend this,” said Sta. Romana.
He added the ODA could be negotiated with China for specific projects. There had been talks with China to sign an ODA agreement but both countries still need to assess how they can pursue the form of economic cooperation.
China has no Japan International Cooperation Agency that manages ODA funds. The closest it has is the Export-Import Bank of China and the Bank of China.
China has the National Development and Reform Commission, the counterpart of the Philippines’ National Economic and Development Authority, where the Chinese government can determine the projects worth giving free or with complimentary financial assistance.
So far, the free assistance given by China to the Philippines was from private sector effort, mostly by philanthropists.
Sta. Romana clarified that the cooperation the Philippines was seeking from China was on the economy and trade and not military alliance.
“We expect defense talks to come to life. While we are separating ourselves from the US several levels away, we are not swinging entirely to China. Our focus on China is to build economic cooperation, trade and more ODA and improve bilateral relations,” he said.
“The key driver to our relation to China is economic. Disputes will not disappear overnight, and it will not be the front and center of our bilateral relations with China, but these issues will not be an obstacle to the development of bilateral ties,” he added.
He said the Philippines was sticking to The Hague ruling on maritime territorial despite despite China’s rejection of the decision.
