DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 09 August) – Two big-ticket projects in Davao have not been canceled despite the rift between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the Duterte family, an official said Friday.
Speaking during the “Business Matters” media forum on Friday, Secretary Leo Tereso Magno, chair of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), said the national government will pursue the waste-to-energy (WTE) project and Davao City Public Transport Modernization Project (DCPTMP) contrary to the claims of Mayor Sebastian Duterte that these have been “defunded”.
An electric bus in Davao City. MindaNews Photo
Magno said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) informed him that the agency is studying how the government will implement the project since it will be funded through a grant from the Japanese government.
He said MinDA is part of the team assisting the DENR in discussing the implementation the WTE project with the local government of Davao.
In August 2022, the City Council of Davao passed a resolution urging Marcos to provide a counterpart fund worth P3.486 billion for the WTE project, in addition to the commitment of the Japanese government to donate 5.013-billion yen, or equivalent to P2.052 billion, to partially fund the project.
Duterte, during his State of State of the City Address last Tuesday, said that nation-building has become slower under the current administration and that he doubted whether national government would still fund the WTE and DCTMP or High Priority Bus System (HPBS) projects.
Magno added that representatives from the project management office leading the implementation of HPBS visited his office last week to update him on the project’s status, specifically on the acquisition of road right of way.
“I have no knowledge of HPBS being canceled. Tuloy tuloy naman yung project na yan (That project will still continue),” he said.
The total project cost of P73.4 billion will be funded by a loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), national budget, and local budget.
On July 1, 2023, the Philippine government signed a $1-billion (P54.89 billion) loan agreement with the ADB for the HPBS.
According to ADB, the HPBS would service about 800,000 passengers per day.
It said the project would include the “construction of around 1,000 bus stops with bright lighting and shelters, 5 bus depots and 3 bus terminals, and provide bus driving training for the new system.”
Once operational, the HPBS will have 29 bus routes divided into the following four tiers: MetroDavao (will form the core services that connect all major commercial centers along five routes), DavaoInter (will run along eight routes connecting the inner urban areas directly to the Davao Central Business District), DavaoFeeder (will run along nine routes linking smaller centers and areas of more dispersed populations to the MetroDavao services), and DavaoLocal (will provide a link between the outer rural areas of the city and main transport system or the integrated terminals).
Under the bus system, around 1,000 bus stops will be put up at a distance of 500 meters between each other along the 29 bus routes around the city. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)
