Philippines’ commitment to sustainable peace and development in the Bangsamoro Region by improving national road network that supports the foundation of people’s lives continues to gain backing from the Government of Japan.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), a governmental agency that coordinates Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan, will provide technical support to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in carrying out detailed design study of the Road Network Development Project in Conflict Affected Areas in Mindanao.
Following a series of meetings between DPWH and JICA Study Team, DPWH Undersecretary Emil K. Sadain of UPMO Operations and Technical Services and JICA Senior Director Masahiro Ueki of the Office for Loan Project Technical Examination- Infrastructure Engineering Department signed on Wednesday, December 4, 2019 the Minutes of Meeting of the detailed design study for the 13.9 kilometers Matanog-Barira-Alamada-Libungan Road and 62.6 kilometers Tapian-Lebak Coastal Road in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindano (BARMM).
Also discussed in the meeting is the target submission of JICA Study Team by the end of April 2020 an indicative cost for the civil work of Matanog-Barira-Alamada-Libungan Road and Tapian-Lebak Coastal Road including of the identification of potential sites leading towards construction of farm-to-market and tourist destination roads to develop agriculture and tourism in the region.
Undersecretary Sadain who was designated by DPWH Secretary Mark A. Villar to manage implementation of various infrastructure projects in BARMM said that JICA assistance in rehabilitating the road system is expected to foster economic activity, ensure smooth commodity flow, and improve the region’s accessibility.
The JICA Study Team led by Shingo Gose is supported by Project Director Virgilio C. Castillo of DPWH UPMO Road Management Cluster 1 (Bilateral) as a coordinator of the Detailed Design Study in Manila and DPWH UPMO Project Manager Francisco Sawali and Assistant Secretary Danilo Ong of Ministry of Public Works-BARMM as a coordinators in Cotabato.
JICA is also assisting the reconstruction and development plan for Greater Marawi with a 970 million pesos or 2 billion yen grant for the 18.97 kilometers Transcentral Roads including the detailed engineering design for stage 2 Transcentral Roads, consisting of 13 road sections. “The project are on-going of its implementation which plays a vital role in the rehabilitation program of Marawi City”, said Undersecretary Sadain.
Financing for the Marawi Transcentral Roads stage 2 with total length of 21 kilometers together with the 19.8 kilometers Marawi City Ring Road are included in the P14 Billion JICA loan signed on June 18, 2019 under the Road Network Development Project in Conflict-Affected Areas in Mindanao or RNDP-CAAM which also includes the construction of new roads to link inaccessible communities of Maguindanao Province that will contribute to the consolidation of peace particularly the 35 kilometers Parang - Balabagan Road, 7 kilometers Parang East Diversion Road, and 16.8 kilometers Manuangan-Parang Road.