MANILA, Philippines — The government has secured a $905.26-million loan from South Korea for the first phase of the proposed Laguna Lakeshore Road that is expected to benefit more than 3 million residents of Laguna and its environs and boost economic output, last reported at more than P1 trillion in 2023.
The Philippine News Agency (PNA) reported on Saturday that the official development assistance loan was coursed through the Export-Import Bank of Korea, but it did not specify details of the deal.
The report quoted the Department of Public Works and Highways as saying that the civil works for the road network are set to begin this year and are expected to be completed by 2029.
The project’s first phase involves only the western shore of Laguna Lake with a 37.5-kilometer primary road and 12-km viaduct from Taguig to Muntinlupa, plus a 25.5-km viaduct and embankment from Muntinlupa to Calamba, Laguna.
Public Works Senior Undersecretary Emil Sadain, who oversees the agency’s flagship infrastructure projects, said the project’s first phase will be built with the supervision of Korean construction experts.
The second phase of the project, which will traverse the eastern shore of Laguna Lake from Binangonan, Rizal, to Calamba, Laguna, is still being studied but the results are expected by the end of the year.
Sadain said the “transformative project” is expected to further boost economic activity in Laguna, which contributed the most to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Booming for years
PSA Laguna Provincial Statistical Office chief statistical specialist, Magdalena Serqueña, said Laguna’s economy expanded by 3.9 percent, rising from P990.44 billion in 2022 to P1.029 trillion in 2023.
Serqueña said agriculture, forestry and fishing (AFF) grew by 7.3 percent; industry by 0.4 percent; and services by 9.8 percent in 2023.
“All three sectors recorded positive growth from their 2022 levels,” she said, with the industry sector dominating at 60 percent; of Laguna’s economic structure, followed by services at 38.5 percent; and AFF at 1.5 percent.
4.9% share in nat’l GDP
Serqueña said Laguna also held a substantial share in Calabarzon’s regional economy, contributing 33.3 percent of the region’s P3.1 trillion output.
Laguna was the top provincial contributor to the country’s GDP in 2023, with a 4.9 percent share. It ranked first in industry at 10.1 percent and also led in services among all provinces with a 3 percent share.