The Philippines, through the Department of Finance, is moving decisively to lock in 25 official development assistance (ODA) agreements with foreign governments, Finance Secretary Frederick Go declared Thursday.
“What’s obvious to us now are actually 10 ODA loans from Japan, 10 pipeline loans from Korea, and five loans from France. These three totals 25 ODA loan agreements with a total value of $10.3 billion,” Go said at a briefing at the Social Security System office.
The numbers make the scale unmistakable: 25 loan agreements worth a staggering $10.3 billion. Separate Department of Finance data show 10 pipeline ODAs worth $2.29 billion lined up for signing within Japan Fiscal Year 2026, which ends March 2027.
Another 10 ODAs worth $6.2 billion and five more valued at $1.83 billion are being pushed for signing this year alone.
ODA refers to loans or grants intended to drive sustainable social and economic development, contracted with foreign governments that maintain diplomatic, trade, or bilateral ties with the Philippines. And as of end-2024, the country’s total ODA portfolio has surged 6 percent to $39.61 billion — covering 92 project loans, 19 program loans, and 315 grants.
But the government is not pretending this flow will last forever. It is already bracing for a shift as the Philippines edges toward upper-middle-income status and concessional financing tightens.
“We will be less reliant on concessional loans once the country moves into an upper-middle class. So we will have to find other sources of financing,” Go said.
That means pivoting hard toward private capital.
“For major projects like infrastructure, climate change, energy, and agriculture, I think we will become more reliant on PPP (Public-Private Partnership) projects which is why we are pushing for the PPP law for the past two years…with our 200 plus infra projects that are being offered for PPP, that will have to become the alternative to the concessional loans,” he added.
At the same time, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is circling two major projects for potential funding this year.
“I actually met with the AIIB representatives yesterday and they are looking at two projects for 2026. The first one is the Luzon Digital Connectivity. I believe that should be half a billion dollars,” he said.
The AIIB is also weighing a $150-million loan for the Manila Sponge City project.
“So those are the two that they are looking at but not certain yet, still discussing with the AIIB, DICT (Department of Information and Communications Technology), and MMDA (Metropolitan Manila Development Authority). The cooperation with AIIB continues to be robust,” Go said.
PNA PHOTO