WHEN you see the new skyways, highways and other expanding infrastructure in the Philippines, look to Japan as the source of many loans that helped build them. The Philippines' foreign debt is at a record $125.4 billion as of last December. There is interest to be paid on that, and most of the loans came from Japan, the world's third-biggest economy, and the Asian Development Bank. The money is paid to Philippine corporations to build airports, bridges, roads and other infrastructure.

The Philippines is one of the poorest countries in the world today. It is ranked 72nd on Global Finance's poverty index, with 20 million Filipinos in dire poverty.