Japanese firm offers to invest $1-B in RP

ANGELES CITY — A big Japanese corporation has offered to invest at least $1 billion to help the Arroyo government cope with its housing backlog of about 3.6 million units, the National Constructors’ Associations of the Philippines, Inc. (Nacap) announced here yesterday.

Nacap president Willy Castor said that officials of the CH-KEN Corp. of Japan (CH-KEN), led by its chief executive officer and chairman Tesuhko Fujie, have coordinated with his group to facilitate their plans for the huge housing investment.

Under CH-KEN’s proposal, the first batch of houses to be constructed in various parts of the country would be for the benefit of members of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Social Security System (SSS), who will pay the units through an affordable monthly amortization. The two financial institutions would pay the Japanese firm after the housing units have been constructed.

In his letter to President Arroyo, Fujie said his firm "will take in Filipino counterparts under a joint venture agreement and employ local labor in the construction of the houses."

Castor said workers and other personnel needed for the projects would be provided by the 10,000-member Nacap.

Officials of CH-KEN visited the Philippines also to look for a suitable site for a P300-million housing complex to be built for Japanese senior citizens and retirees who would like to stay in the country.

Castor said the Japanese businessmen have already scheduled a meeting with Clark Development Corp. (CDC) president and chief executive officer Emmanuel Angeles for the possible establishment of such housing project within the Clark special economic zone.

The Japanese investors said they were unfazed by the recent mutiny of soldiers in Makati City, saying that they are fully confident of Mrs. Arroyo’s capability to quell such rebellion and believe that Filipinos are generally peace-loving people. — Ding Cervantes