AFTER many delays, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime Bautista has already given a timeline for the commencement of the operation of the Davao High Priority Bus System (HPBS); it will be in 2026.
After procuring and approving four contract packages, the HPBS is seen to accommodate 800,000 passengers daily.
Bautista told Davao reporters during the first Mindanao Infrastructure Summit press conference on Thursday, October 10, 2024, that the national government and the local government unit (LGU) of Davao have already provided “enough funds” for the bus modernization project, which will provide an extensive network of 29 routes covering 672-kilometer of roads connecting key areas within Davao City up to Panabo City.
“There is a national government participation and the project is partially supported by the city government of Davao. The budget for the Davao Priority projects is not that really problematic. Although we have requested the Congress to allocate more funds just to support the ongoing works and the personal service. As far as the project is concerned, it's on track,” Bautista said, adding that the government through the Department of Finance has already secured a loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed last 2023.
When asked about the minor challenges the project has been facing, Bautista responded that they are currently reaching out to Congress for the acquisition of legal property rights particularly the Right-of-Ways (RoW) to be able to finish the construction without any legal hurdles.
“We need to acquire more land and yun ang hinihingi namin sa Congress (That was what we have been asking in Congress),” the official added.
On a separate note, Nestor Kilian Tabada, Contract of Service officer of the Office of the Undersecretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure, stated in an ambush interview that the Davao bus project has identified four RoW issues, saying “Identified na po yung areas na yun at tinatapos na lang yung land acquisition (We have identified the areas and started the land acquisition process).”
In July last year, the formal signing of the budget from the ADB amounting to USD 1,710.78 million signaled the start of the implementation of the Davao Bus Project. The signing was led by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. representing the national government and ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa.
A total of 1,105 buses will travel along the Davao-Panabo highways, roughly 400 of which will be electric-articulated buses and the remainder will meet Euro V criteria for diesel-powered buses. These new buses will have low floors for easy boarding and alighting, fitted with CCTV cameras, wheelchair bays, and reserved seats for pregnant women, mothers with children, and the elderly, stressing passenger comfort, safety, and accessibility.
The conceptualization of the bus project began under the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte, after the ADB initiated studies that led to the vision for an integrated and sustainable urban transport system in the city.
In 2018, the Davao Public Transport Modernization Project, then known as the High Priority Bus System Project, was conceptualized and then officially adopted by former mayor and now Vice President Sara Z. Duterte for implementation. DEF
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