The Philippines’ Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has fostered greater collaboration with Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) for tunnel engineering and road infrastructure development.

A Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) was formally signed Tuesday, October 4, 2022 in Manila by DPWH Secretary Manuel M. Bonoan and Senior Undersecretary Emil K. Sadain, and MLIT Vice Minister for Engineering Affairs Mikio Yoshioka to further strengthen mutual cooperation, business relations, and capacity development in relation to the construction and operation & 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 always been at the forefront of advancement in construction and engineering with state-of-the-art equipment and world-renowned machineries. 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 with the event an opportune occasion to encourage business match-making of companies between the Philippines and Japan.

The workshop was attended by over 100 Japanese nationals led by no less than the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines Ambassador Koshikawa Kazuhiko, MLIT Vice Minister Yoshioka, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Philippine Office Chief Representative Sakamoto Takema, and delegates from leading Japanese construction firms.

The Philippine side was headed by DPWH Senior Undersecretary Sadain, Assistant Secretary Constante A. Llanes Jr., Project Directors Benjamin A. Bautista, Ramon A. Arriola III and Rodrigo I. Delos Reyes; National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Assistant Secretary Roderick M. Planta; Department of Finance (DOF) Executive Director Helena B. Habulan; Public Private Partnership (PPP) Center Deputy Executive Director Eleazar A. Ricote; and among other construction business leaders.

In his message, DPWH Secretary Bonoan lauded this workshop event organized by Senior Undersecretary Sadain and MLIT as it will open many opportunities for strategic partnership and collaboration to support current efforts of the administration of President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. of continuing infrastructure programs and initiatives to ‘build better more’.

Senior Undersecretary Sadain, in-charge of Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) operations implementing large scale infrastructure projects, said that technical assistance and loan grants from JICA paved the way for some of the flagship infrastructure projects in the Philippines today.

JICA is the Philippines largest bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) partner with ongoing development cooperation projects nationwide across key sectors of infrastructure development, disaster risk reduction, health, education, agriculture, and among others.

In support of the ‘build better more’ campaign, DPWH Assistant Secretary Llanes Jr. shared the country’s traffic decongestion program anchored on the masterplan on high standard highway network development which include the Davao City Bypass Road Project.

The construction works and applied tunneling technology in the on-going Davao City Bypass Project was discussed by Project Director Akira Mito of the Shimizu-Ulticon-Takenaka joint venture while officials of Nippon Expressway Company, Metropolitan Expressway Company, and Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Expressway Company shared their experience and proven expertise in the construction and operations and maintenance of road tunnel in mountainous, undersea, and urban areas as well as long-span bridges.

“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 Senior Undersecretary Sadain.

Meanwhile, the respective programs and projects of the two (2) expressway concessionaires in the Philippines that will play key role in connecting places and improving mobility towards nation building were discussed by Mr. Raoul Eduardo C. Romulo and Mr. Allan G. Alfon of San Miguel Holdings Corporation and Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation, respectively.

https://www.dpwh.gov.ph/dpwh/news/28261