China’s promised infrastructure billions yet to arrive in the Philippines, five years on

Only a fraction of the US$9 billion in soft loans and US$15 billion worth of direct investments Beijing promised Manila in 2016 has been paid out

Japan’s official development assistance dwarfs China’s aid to the Philippines, with US$8.5 billion in 2019. Beijing also charges higher interest rates on loans

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Philippine and Chinese officials attend the groundbreaking ceremony of a China-funded dam project in Rizal province, the Philippines, last month. Some 85 per cent of the total cost is to be paid for with a loan from the Export-Import Bank of China. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 3:59pm, 5 Jul 2021Updated: 4:22pm, 5 Jul 2021

Near the centre of Manila, construction workers are now rushing to complete a US$69-million China-funded bridge by the end of this year after repeatedly missing deadlines.

The Binondo-Intramuros Bridge is set to be among the first to be completed out of the 14 China-funded infrastructure projects in the pipeline. Back in 2016, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte travelled to Beijing and dramatically embraced China. “I announce my separation from the US,” Duterte said at the time to a packed room of business leaders in Beijing after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Still, not everyone was convinced the US$24 billion in Chinese investments would come without strings attached.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, shows Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte the way during a welcoming ceremony in Beijing in 2016. Photo: AP

The pledges caused some “reservations” from the start, said former Philippine Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, who was among the top officials who signed deals with Beijing. “The quid pro quo seemed logically slanted in China’s favour, the super-powerful one.”

Five years later and about 10 months away from the next election, most big-ticket projects funded by China have yet to break ground or have not been approved, with only three under construction. Even worse, Chinese vessels this year have swarmed disputed territory claimed by the Philippines in the South China Sea – exactly the kind of aggressive moves that Duterte had hoped to avoid by getting closer to Beijing at the expense of the US, a long-time treaty ally.