Japanese aid agency official punished for leaking Philippines project information

TOKYO (Kyodo) — An official from the Japan International Cooperation Agency leaked information about a bid for a railway rehabilitation project in the Philippines financed with low-interest yen loans, the Japanese government said Tuesday.

JICA imposed a one-month suspension on the official in July after he leaked cost estimates and other project details to a Tokyo-based construction consulting firm, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kazuhiko Aoki said in a press conference

A joint venture involving the consultancy won the bid made by the Philippine government in 2019 and signed a contract worth about 1.5 billion yen ($10 million) the following year.

During JICA’s investigation, the official explained that he had leaked the information because of “the need to expedite the project,” according to the agency.

“The government takes the incident very seriously and will closely monitor JICA’s measures to prevent it from happening again,” Aoki said, adding that the agency will strengthen staff training on confidentiality obligations and other regulations and ensure comprehensive information management.