So it is not true that the multi-billion peso Davao City Public Transport Modernization Project is scuttled by the national government as an offshoot of the enmity between former President Rodrigo R. Duterte with his daughter Vice President Sara Z. Duterte, and the national administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.
A week or two back there were claims from the Duterte camp through certain local government officials that the project implementation is already hopeless as funds have already been uncertain. Of course the insinuation is that it is because of the Duterte-Marcos, Jr. political rift.
But then in a recent media forum an official from the Department of Transportation (DOTr) disclosed that the transport modernization project is still very much a “go.”
Richard Villanueva, DOTr XI project evaluator, told local media that in such highly “complicated” and largely funded project it is inevitable that delays will be expected. He cited difficulties in land acquisition for terminals, depots, and bus stops locations.
We fully agree with Villanueva that indeed project like the Modernization of Public transportation is something that implementation cannot just be a “walk in the park” even if funding is already assured and is just a matter of utilization.
In fact we would say that may be the biggest obstacle is the acquisition of right-of-way considering that Davao City is now a fully developed area and almost all of the peripheries of the urban center are not only thickly populated with people but also by business establishments that may need bigger amount to boot out and have them transfer to other suitable locations.
When we say difficulty in acquiring road right-of-way, how could it be easy for such project as the transport modernization if the government cannot even get hold of a very short length of land to put in place an approach to a ten-meter bridge connecting Catalunan Grande in the first district and Tacunan in the third.
How much more for the Transport Modernization project which necessitates construction of perhaps a hundred or perhaps less, kilometers main road and several more that will give access to vehicles and passengers to and from the city proper.
And if acquisition of sites for construction of terminals, depots and bus stops is added to the problem then the delay may not just be in months but years.
Of course we remember that the mentioned project was conceived by no less than VP Sara during her term as mayor of Davao City.
May be if she is lucky she might be able to have it implemented during her term as President. Again, if she is lucky to survive the mudslinging she is now into with her erstwhile tandem in the last 2022 national election.
Talking of national government projects we believe it is not totally correct for some pro-administration vloggers to claim that the Malacanang tenant has one of its biggest the Samal Island-Davao City Connector Bridge.
The project has long been conceived by political and lay leaders of Southern Mindanao dating as far back in the late 70s when we arrived in Davao City. The idea of such bridge project was already presented during meetings of the Regional Development Council (RDC) where we had opportunities to attend as representative of the agency of government we once worked.
And if we remember it right it was during the term of then President Rodrigo Duterte that the project design and funding mechanism were finalized. It was just unfortunate that the project implementation at that time met several obstacles including legal when the bridge’s alignment was questioned by affected stakeholders.
Even the issue of bridge construction’s impact to the environment was cited delaying further the start of the implementation.
So, when Duterte vowed out of office he left a bridge project for his native Davao City and nearby Samal Island still an unfulfilled dream.
So, when Marcos, Jr. assumed there were only some fine-tunings needed and in due time the ground breaking was made signaling the start of the bridge construction. Today the foundation of the bridge as well as its massive posts are already very visible to the eyes.
But again it is not correct for administration vloggers to claim it is a Marcios, Jr. project. The possibility however, is that the Davao City-Samal Island bridge could be completed during his term.
It is similar to the case of the Cordova-Cebu Express bridge project – conceptualized, developed and was funded during pre-Duterte days in Malacanang but started and completed during his incumbency.
