THE Arroyo administration has taken “decisive steps” to restore some $80 million, or nearly P4 billion, in Japanese official development assistance (ODA) and yen-package loans that have been frozen since 2001, the Speaker of the House of Representatives disclosed Thursday.
       Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. said President Arroyo has approved the payment of P70 million to Japanese construction companies to complete the refund of value-added tax (VAT) collected from VAT-exempt companies.
       De Venecia hailed the President’s decision, calling it a “decisive step that will lead to major, large-scale Japanese economic assistance to the Philippines.”
       He said the financial assistance amounting to some $600 million to $800 million will come from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), a major source of capital funds for the country, with 30 to 40 year’s repayment at less than 1 percent a year.
       De Venecia said these yen-denominated loans could be used for urgent infrastructure development and to fund several Philippine antipoverty programs leading to the creation of thousands of jobs.
       Tokyo, according to de Venecia, is the biggest provider of ODA funds and a major source of foreign direct investments,
       De Venecia arrived in Tokyo Wednesday as the head of a small House of Representatives delegation. He buckled down to work on Thursday, opening a busy five-day official visit capped by a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and an audience with the Japanese Emperor.
       His official trip to Japan, which Philippine Ambassador Domingo L. Siazon Jr. helped arrange, comes on the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Japan.
       On Thursday, de Venecia addressed the Japan Institute of International Affairs, the think tank of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, where he hailed Japan’s economic resurgence as beneficial to the entire Asian region.
       “Its return to the path of growth is bound to benefit the whole of the region,” de Venecia said. “Now, Japan can become a growth engine for our countries all over again.”
       De Venecia was joined by Lakas Rep. Raul del Mar of Cebu City, the Deputy Speaker for Visayas, Liberal Party Rep. Junie Cua of Quirino and Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Michael John Duavit of Rizal.
       De Venecia also addressed the Japan-Philippines Parliamentarians Friendship League (JPFL) headed by former Foreign Minister Taro Nakayama, who chairs the committee currently at work on proposed amendments to the Japanese Constitution.
       “This is a landmark year in our bilateral relations,” said de Venecia, adding that together with the United Sates, Japan “is our most important trading partner.”
       De Venecia said the Philippines-Japan relations have continued to grow and widen in political and security aspects.
       The security dialogues between the two countries have focused on common political and security concerns “not only with regional terrorism, transnational crime, disaster mitigation, and maritime and energy security but also with potential regional flashpoints,” de Venecia said.
       He acknowledged Japan’s assistance in the country’s buildup of its capacity for maritime and aviation security, counter-terrorism, and disaster management.
       De Venecia’s schedule for the day includes a call on Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki and is capped by his meeting with Speaker Yohei Kono, a former foreign minister and a leading member of the Liberal Democratic Party.
       Kono will honor the Philippine Speaker and his delegation with a dinner reception at which the Japanese Speaker will receive the Congressional Medal of Achievement, the highest decoration from the Philippine House of Representatives.