By Minerva BC Newman Cebu City — The Philippines and Japan vowed to speed up the implementation of big-ticket infrastructure projects that Japan pledged to fund. At the end of a high-level meeting of the joint committees on infrastructure development and economic cooperation in Cebu Monday, the two countries committed to sign the first tranche of the loan for the first phase of the Metro Manila Subway project by March 2018. Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, who led the Philippine delegation, said the bilateral cooperation with Japan complements the country’s economic growth. “We are using Japanese expertise and technologies to build safer and resilient structures and communities,” he said. Dr. Hiroto Izumi, Special Advisor to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and head of the Japan side, presented measures to fast-track loan and projects processing and implementation. “We are expediting all processes and procedures for all joint projects and programs of the Duterte administration and appreciates what the Philippine government is doing to equally facilitate and shorten all operational aspects of the agreements,” Izumi said. The two delegations reported on the measures they had done to ensure the steady progress of the flagship projects and bilateral economic agreements. Secretary Ernesto Pernia of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said that last June the Philippine team established the project management and monitoring task force that meets regularly to address issues, find solutions and recommend measures in clearing bottlenecks, critical issues, development of resources and funding for the flagship projects. Secretaries Arthur Tugade of the Department of Transportation Mark Villar of Public Works and Highways and Benjamin Diokno of Budget and Management gave updates on the establishment of the project management office (PMO), an innovative measure to push projects, budget allocation, realign utilities and address right-of-way issues.