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Japanese car repair firm studying Pampanga operation

PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO

THE Board of Investments (BoI) said on Tuesday that a Japanese company is considering setting up a quick-stop car repair service in Pampanga by July.

The BoI said it met with Japan’s Anest Iwata A.I.R. Corp. to discuss a planned venture in the Philippines.

“A key focus of the meeting was the company’s joint venture with Kurumaya Complete Auto Care (Kurumaya) for its repair shop operations, specifically for car coating repair services,” the BoI said.

Under the partnership, Anest Iwata plans to provide specialized training to Kurumaya employees.

Anest Iwata also plans to open its first shop in Pampanga and start operations by July. It also expressed plans to expand to other key locations such as Metro Manila and Laguna.

“The company is set to introduce the first-ever quick-stop car repair service in the country, promising same-day completion for repairs,” the BoI said.

Anest Iwata’s auto repair shop in Pampanga will be its first location outside Japan.

According to the BoI, the meeting with Anest Iwata follows an earlier engagement during the Investments Promotion Mission to Japan, led by Trade Undersecretary and BoI Managing Head Ceferino S. Rodolfo in November.

“We affirm Anest Iwata’s positive outlook on the Philippines. With the country’s young population, growing per capita gross domestic product, and projected strong automobile sales — including mid- to high-end brands — there is a significant opportunity for the company’s business to thrive,” Mr. Rodolfo said. — Justine Irish D. Tabile

Filipino soldiers to train on US Typhon missile system; no live-fire exercises

PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO

PHILIPPINE soldiers will train on the US military’s intermediate range missile system during unilateral army drills next month as part of preparations for bigger exercises with US counterparts, a military official said on Tuesday.

A platoon of about 20 Filipino soldiers from the army artillery regiment will train with the US Army Pacific’s First Multi-Domain Task Force on the Typhon missile system in mid-February, Philippine army spokesperson Louie Dema-ala said.

The exercise will focus on the “payload delivery system” and will highlight the system’s capabilities, he said, adding that it would not include live-fire exercises. “As long as the MRC (mid-range capability) is here, we maximize its utilization to train our personnel with these new technologies,” he told a news briefing.

The Typhon missile system was deployed by US forces to the Philippines in April last year as part of their Balikatan or “shoulder-to-shoulder” military exercises, and has since stayed in the country, angering China which has repeatedly called for its withdrawal.

The launchers have been redeployed to a new location in the Philippines that officials declined to disclose, Reuters reported last week.

Tomahawk cruise missiles used in the launchers can hit targets in both China and Russia from the Philippines. The SM-6 missiles it also carries can strike air or sea targets more than 200 km away.

The Philippines last year expressed interest to acquire the launchers as part of its modernization program.

Philippine military spokesperson Francel Margareth Padilla-Taborlupa on Tuesday said preparations were under way for this year’s annual Balikatan exercises, which are billed to be one of the biggest.

Security engagements between the Philippines and treaty ally the US have intensified in recent years, as both countries aim to counter what they see as an increasingly assertive China.

Strong ties between the two are expected to continue under US President Donald J. Trump, whose Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week reaffirmed Washington’s “ironclad” commitment to the Philippines under their decades-old Mutual Defense Treaty.

Also on Tuesday, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) accused a Chinese vessel of shadowing its ship that was trying to rescue a distressed fishing boat near the Zambales coast.

It said China Coast Guard-3304’s shadowing efforts had hindered BRP Cabra from retrieving the body of a deceased fisherman from the boat.

Upon reaching the fishing boat 70 nautical miles (129.6 kilometers) southwest of Silanguin Island, Zambales, the team manning BRP Cabra “discovered that the fisherman had no pulse and was already deceased.”

“To transport the body of the fisherman back to Subic, Zambales, BRP Cabra bravely navigated through the heavy waves to retrieve the deceased using its crane,” it said.

“Chinese Coast Guard vessel CCG 3304, despite being aware of the distress call from the Filipino fishermen, engaged in shadowing that hindered the PCG vessel’s efforts to recover the body.”

DEFENSE ECOZONE
Meanwhile, Senator Juan Miguel F. Zubiri said the Senate’s approval on Monday of a bill that seeks to set up a one-stop economic hub in Bataan for defense industry investors would fast-track Manila’s goal of developing a self-reliant defense posture and boosting the local production of raw materials.

“This approval will go a long way towards developing a fully self-reliant defense posture, where our armed forces are supplied by our own homegrown defense industry,” the senator, who sponsored Senate Bill No. 2900, said in a statement.

“In the interest of self-reliance and in line with our Filipino-first policies, we made sure to require that special defense economic zone locators acquire a percentage of their raw materials from local producers,” he said.

The measure will set up a 370-hectare special defense economic zone in Limay, Bataan and give locators value-added tax exemptions for imports and local purchases and an income tax holiday.

These defense industry companies must pay a 5% final tax on their gross income, to be shared by Bataan province, the Special Defense Economic Zone Authority and the Armed Forces of the Philippines for its pension fund.

Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. in October signed into law a bill that seeks to boost the country’s defense program through investments in local defense equipment and manufacturing amid tensions with China.

It allows the Defense department to develop a self-reliant defense posture program that will encourage manufacturers to produce weapons and defense systems in the country for local use and exports. It will give the agency P1 billion in funding.

Manila and Beijing have repeatedly clashed in the South China Sea, accusing each other of aggressive behavior involving their ships and of damaging the marine environment.

The Philippines, one of the weakest in the world in terms of military capability, is important to Washington’s efforts to push back against China, which claims the South China Sea almost in its entirety. — John Victor D. Ordoñez and KATA with Reuters

PHL midterm elections at risk from deepfakes, political analysts say

PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO

By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio, Reporter

THE PHILIPPINES is ill-equipped to combat misuse of artificial intelligence (AI) by political candidates, who could undermine the integrity of midterm elections in May, political analysts said.

“The use of generative AI (Gen AI) in elections presents a significant issue due to its potential misuse for disinformation and influence operation,” Rona Ann V. Caritos, executive director at election watchdog Legal Network for Truthful Elections, said in an e-mail.

Nearly half of the world’s population flocked to polling stations last year to cast their votes amid technological strides in Gen AI, which can create deepfakes — artificial videos in which images are combined to create footage that depicts events, statements or action that never really happened.

The United Nations Development Programme a 2024 report said Gen AI misuse is a rising threat to democracy because it could be used for electoral disinformation.

“Past elections in countries such as Indonesia, India, Nigeria, Slovakia and the US have demonstrated how deep fakes and AI-generated content can disrupt democratic processes,” Ms. Caritos said in an e-mailed reply to questions.

The 2025 midterm elections in the Philippines are crucial for President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., whose political allies control majority of both Houses of Congress. He risks having his policy agenda sidelined if administration lawmakers fail to get re-elected.

“Midterms are always seen as a referendum of the administration and are also used by political forces in the Philippines to consolidate in preparation for the presidential elections,” Arjan P. Aguirre, who teaches political science at the Ateneo de Manila University, said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

Filipinos will pick more than 300 congressmen and fill 12 of the 24 seats in the Senate.

AI can be used to create and moderate social media content, analyze public sentiment and use targeted campaigns for specific voters.

“AI is a mere tool that can be maximized for the good or weaponized for the bad,” Danilo A. Arao, who started election watchdog Kontra Daya, said via Messenger chat. “The tools are readily available and can be easily maximized.”

Candidates could use AI to craft a campaign based on voter sentiment, Dominic Vincent D. Ligot, founder of CirroLytix Research Services, said in an e-mail.

“They could conduct their own surveys and run algorithms to determine where they can secure votes from the general population,” Allan C. Tan, chief AI scientist at startup Predictive Systems, Inc., said by telephone.

He said threats would come from “bad actors” who would likely create deepfakes against their political rivals. “It’s easier for them to create fake videos and fake photos. And if the voting population is not mature enough to recognize deepfakes, they might believe them,” he said in Filipino.

“Deepfakes are becoming the most popular AI form to malign people,” Mr. Aguirre said.

Mr. Tan said that AI could also be used to automate troll farms and disinformation drives meant to malign political opponents and influence public opinion.

“Traditionally, in previous elections, you had these keyboard warriors,” he said. “They can create spam bots. Imagine the harm it could do if it’s automated now.”

CONTENT REGULATION
AI advancements would likely result in intensified propaganda efforts by political candidates, Mr. Aguirre said. “They could publish more convincing work that can hook the minds of unsuspecting voters.”

“The current legal and regulatory framework in the Philippines is not sufficient to put a stop to the spread of false AI-generated content,” Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin M. Garcia told BusinessWorld in a Viber message.

He said their jurisdiction over AI content moderation is limited during the election period, leaving a big gap in the oversight over politicians’ digital campaigns.

In September, the Comelec issued Resolution No. 11064, which prescribes the requirements of AI use for political campaigns, while also banning the use of deepfakes.

“It lays down the registration, transparency and disclosure requirements for the use of AI technology in digital election campaigns and prohibits the misuse not only of AI and deepfakes in the upcoming national and local elections, but the misuse of social media and internet technology as well,” Mr. Garcia said.

A measure that seeks to combat election-related disinformation by outlawing the operations of troll farms was filed at the House of Representatives in December. It imposes a jail term of as long as 12 years and a fine of as much as P2 million on violators, while also disqualifying candidates who willingly benefit from disinformation campaigns.

Enacting an anti-fake news law is “not a good idea” because it could be used to suppress critics, Mr. Arao said. “Curbing disinformation through legislative intervention should not be done as this is tantamount to censorship.”

Content regulation policies used in other countries could lead to censorship and abuse, Ms. Caritos said. “Content regulation involves broad and ambiguously worded definitions of what constitutes false content or disinformation and is used in conjunction with criminal sanctions.”

“Transparency initiatives are less draconian and effective in addressing the problem of disinformation,” she added.

The government should look at conducting educational campaigns about AI misuse, while also pushing a transparency framework on AI use, Mr. Ligot said.

Comelec, TikTok partner vs fake news before midterms

STOCK PHOTO | Image by memyselfaneye from Pixabay

By Chloe Mari A. Hufana, Reporter

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) and TikTok have signed a memorandum of understanding to campaign against misinformation ahead of Philippine midterm elections in May.

TikTok also launched a Philippine-specific election tab on its platform called Election Center, working with election watchdogs to reach out to Filipino voters.

“By reaching out to the Filipino electorate through our platform and specifically through the Election Center, we empower them not only to make their voices heard on the platform but to also make their voices heard in the polling booth come election day,” TikTok Public Policy Manager Peachy A. Paderna told a news briefing in Taguig City on Tuesday.

Under the deal, TikTok will disallow monetization and ads from politicians and candidates.

“We are not banning political expression on the platform; people are free to express themselves politically on TikTok but we don’t allow politicians, governments and political parties to make money on the platform,” she said. “We also don’t allow the monetization of political content.”

To do this, TikTok has 21 fact-checking partners globally and about 40,000 moderators to check misinformation and disinformation.

“We are continually partnering with the Comelec, and we are in constant conversation with them on the implementation of their rules and regulations, including the registration of social media accounts,” she added.

Comelec Chairman George Erwin M. Garcia said the election body and video-sharing platform would hold activities as part of the public information campaign.

TikTok creators and influencers, politicians and candidates will undergo briefings about the rules of the platform. A podcast about voter education is also in the works for this year’s midterm elections.

Mr. Garcia said they are also working with the Philippine branches of tech giants Google and Meta in fact-checking and preventing misinformation and disinformation.

While there are no written agreements with other social media platforms, Comelec spokesman John Rex C. Laudiangco said they have agreed on a fact-checking process.

“Our agreement is that, insofar as suspension and takedown, they will wait for the Comelec’s go-ahead before they act,” he said. “What’s good about this is that when we look at our rules and community policy, they align well. So, we won’t have a hard time.”

He said there are about 49 million voting-age Filipino TikTok users.

Filipinos will choose their congressmen, 12 of the 24-member Senate, mayors, vice-mayors and members of city councils on May 12.

Food security emergency likely to be declared within two days

A customer buys rice at a stall in Paco Market, Manila, April 6, 2024. — PHILIPPINE STAR/RYAN BALDEMOR

THE Philippine government would likely declare a food security emergency within two days to enable the local rice agency to release buffer stocks amid stubbornly high rice prices, a Trade official told a House of Representatives committee on Tuesday.

The National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC) is close to finalizing a resolution that would allow the Agriculture secretary to declare the emergency, Trade Assistant Secretary Agaton Teodoro O. Uvero told congressmen.

Mr. Uvero said they finalized on Monday a version of the rice order that “everyone’s fine with.” “We need to follow the bureaucracy involved,” he said in Filipino.

When asked whether the government could release the order within the next 48 hours, Mr. Uvero said “we can probably do it.”

Republic Act (RA) No. 12708, the Agricultural Tariffication Act, grants the Agriculture secretary authority to declare a food security emergency, in cases of rice supply shortages or extraordinary price spikes.

“If in case the food security emergency is declared, then we can start unloading our stocks, whether they are regular or aging stocks,” National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator Larry R. Lacson told lawmakers in Filipino.

He said the rice agency currently has more than 760,000 bags of rice ready to be sold once the Department of Agriculture declares a food emergency.

The NFA would sell aging rice stocks at P29 per kilo, while it would barter regular stocks at P38 per kilo. “There are around 300,000 bags of aging stocks and 400,000 plus, almost 500,000 bags, of regular stocks,” said Mr. Lacson.

Also on Tuesday, Mr. Lacson said the current funding provided to NFA is not enough to cover the 15-day rice buffer stocking requirement under RA No. 12708. The law increased the rice agency’s minimum rice reserve level to 15 days’ worth of demand from the previous nine days.

“We would need P14.2 billion just to cover nine days,” said Mr. Lacson.

The NFA was provided with only P9 billion for buffer stocking this year, which could cover rice needs of Filipinos for six days, Ms. Quimbo pointed out. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio

House approves tobacco tracking bill on 2nd reading

IDIN EBRAHIMI-UNSPLASH

THE House of Representatives approved on second reading a measure that will introduce a track-and-trace system for tobacco products, a proposal seen deterring smuggled cigarettes.

In a voice vote, House Bill (HB) No. 11286, which seeks to strengthen the cigarette tax administration by implementing a track-and-trace system for all tobacco products, advanced in the chamber.

Under the bill, cigarettes, vapes, and tobacco products would need to be affixed with a stamp that has “physical or digital features,” while requiring companies to register equipment needed in making cigarettes and electronic vapes with the government.

“The illicit tobacco trade in our country is alarming. One in five sticks of cigarettes did not pass the quality control, and is more likely to cause death,” Party-list Rep. Ray Florence T. Reyes, who sponsored the measure, told the House floor.

“These unregulated products expose consumers to greater health risks,” he added.

Meanwhile, the House ways and means panel is eyeing an annually alternating tax rate hike scheme on cigarette products, while also tweaking the tax rate over all tobacco products.

The House tax committee made public on Tuesday HB No. 11360, which seeks to implement an odd-and-even numbered tax rate increase for cigarettes in an effort to curb the surge of illicit tobacco products in the Philippines.

“The rate of tax imposed shall be increased by 2% every even-numbered year effective on Jan. 1, 2026, and 4% every odd-numbered year, effective on Jan. 1, 2027,” the bill stated, changing the tax rate structure across all tobacco products.

“[The increase shall be implemented] until Dec. 31, 2035, provided that after the ten-year period, a review of the tax imposed and its impact on revenue collections, health costs, and prevalence of smoking shall be conducted,” it added.

Heated tobacco products would be charged with a P41 tax per pack of 20, with vape and cigarettes being imposed with a P66.15 tax per pack, according to the proposal.

Discussions over the levied tax rates for cigarettes have taken a front seat at the House tax panel, which is eyeing to reduce excise tax losses over the tobacco industry due to smuggling.

Excise tax rates for heated tobacco, cigarettes, and vape products are levied a yearly 5% tax rate increase from 2024, according to the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) website.

“BIR revenue data show that further successive increases in tax rates have failed to result in higher collections,” Euvimil Nina R. Asuncion, revenue operations group director for the Finance department, told lawmakers on Monday.

The BIR was P52 billion short of its P185 billion tobacco excise tax collection target last year, collecting only P134 billion in 2024.

The House tax panel earlier eyed imposing a pause on the yearly excise tax rate increase over tobacco products, a proposal bucked by health advocates.

HB No. 11360 would lower the taxes collected from tobacco products, Anthony C. Leachon, former Department of Health advisor and convener of health advocacy group Sin Tax Coalition, said in a statement sent to BusinessWorld.

“We project that this will lead to P29 billion of forgone revenue for public health and tobacco farmers from 2026 to 2030 and will make cigarettes and electronic smoking devices more accessible to the youth and the poor,” he added. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio

Cops’ assault raps vs VP junked

VICE-PRESIDENT SARA DUTERTE-CARPIO FACEBOOK PAGE

THE Quezon City prosecutor has dismissed the charges of grave coercion and direct assault filed against Vice-President (VP) Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio, along with her security and protection group, in connection with a November 2024 incident involving Ms. Duterte’s chief of staff at medical facilities.

In a resolution dated Jan. 17, Assistant City Prosecutor Criscelyn B. Caryugan-Lugo dismissed the charges of direct assault, disobedience to authority, and grave coercion against Ms. Duterte and others.

The prosecutor cited a “failure to sustain a finding of prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction.”

The case was filed by officers of the Quezon City Police District following a commotion at the House of Representatives and the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) during the transfer of the Vice-President’s chief of staff, Zuleika T. Lopez.

The complainants alleged the head of the Vice-Presidential Security and Protection Group physically pushed and assaulted a police doctor who was assigned to assist Ms. Lopez during her transfer to the VMMC.

However, the prosecutor ruled that the allegations were “not supported by evidence,” noting that none of the witnesses corroborated the police doctor’s claims of being subjected to “attack, physical force, intimidation, resistance, disobedience, violence, or threats.” — Chloe Mari A. Hufana

JobStreet, FCC partner on training

FREEPIK

ONLINE JOB portal JobStreet by SEEK partnered with the Filipina CEO Circle (FCC) to provide Filipino jobseekers and employers with enhanced leadership and career development opportunities.

The collaboration aims to foster education, mentorship, and skill development, particularly for women in business.

At Career Con 2025 organized by the Labor department, FCC members shared insights on leadership and career advancement through talks and panel discussions, equipping jobseekers with tools to thrive in their careers.

As part of the partnership, JobStreet also pledged support for FCC’s scholarship program, which helps Filipino students develop their potential as future leaders.

“By combining our expertise in career development and talent acquisition with FCC’s focus on developing female leaders, we believe this partnership will help bridge the gap between talent and opportunities,” Managing Director, Philippines, Jobstreet by SEEK Dannah L. Majarocon said in a statement on Tuesday. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana

Budget panel may face jail time

PHILIPPINE STAR/KJ ROSALES

A LAWMAKER on Tuesday said members of the House of Representatives’ budget panel could face legal cases for what he alleged as falsification of documents for approving the budget bill this year despite having blank line items.

Marikina Rep. Stella Luz A. Quimbo, the House budget committee’s officer-in-charge (OIC), on Monday said the bicameral conference committee allowed legislative staff members to fill in the blanks in the budget bill’s committee report to “implement corrections.”

She asserted there are no infirmities to the P6.326-trillion national budget, citing the budget as valid and constitutional.

“When she admitted to what happened, she confessed that there was falsification of legislative documents,” Davao City Rep. Pantaleon D. Alvarez said in a statement.

“What likely happened is that the congressmen in the [House] Committee on Appropriations instructed the staff, or themselves filled in the blanks even after the ratification was completed,” he added.

Mr. Alvarez, a former House speaker during the presidency of Rodrigo R. Duterte, said that those who falsify congressional documents could be imprisoned for up to six years with an accompanying fine. 

The falsification of legislative documents is committed when “any person who, without authority… alters any bill, resolution, or ordinance enacted or approved or pending approval by either House of the Legislature,” according to the Philippine Revised Penal Code.

“The amounts they inserted there were not approved by the plenary, so they are not authorized by Congress. The placement of those amounts and figures was done under no authority,” Mr. Alvarez said in Filipino.

“Our position is that the ratification of the corrected bicameral conference committee report is unnecessary,” said Ms. Quimbo, citing a provision allowing Congress to issue corrections on the approved conference report.

Meanwhile, Davao City Rep. Isidro T. Ungab said they filed a petition before the Supreme Court assailing the legality of the national spending plan.

“After all the long discussions about the validity and constitutionality of the 2025 General Appropriations Act, we deemed it appropriate to bring the matter to the Supreme Court for adjudication,” he told BusinessWorld in a Viber message. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio

Bill condoning farmers’ debt pushed

PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO

A PHILIPPINE senator on Tuesday called for the passage of a bill that would mandate a one-time condonation of farmers’ unpaid interests, penalties, and other agricultural loans to ease debt payment burden and boost local production.

“We will form a technical working group, which should have stakeholders present because we need to clarify what we will condone,” Senator Cynthia A. Villar, who heads the agriculture, food and agrarian reform committee, told a hearing on Senate Bill No. 2744 which seeks this one-time condonation of loans and debts.

“This is for the farmers and fisherfolk wherein if they will have their debts condoned, it will help them and at the same time clean up the records of the government’s credit organizations.”

The House of Representatives in 2023 approved on final reading a similar bill seeking to restructure and allow condonation of unpaid interests, penalties, and surcharges on loans of farmers, fisherfolk, and agrarian reform beneficiaries. 

The condonation program will cover agricultural and agrarian reform loans secured through the Department of Agrarian Reform’s (DAR) existing and terminated credit programs.

Under Senate bill, the condonation program will cover unpaid interests, penalties, and surcharges of agrarian loans from the departments of Agrarian Reform and Agriculture, People’s Credit and Finance Corp., Cooperative Development Authority, National Food Authority and the Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corp.

The measure requires the loan principal to have paid at least 2% of the amount to qualify for the condonation. — John Victor D. Ordoñez

UNICEF urges strict standards for food products for children

FREEPIK

THE government must ensure robust regulation over products for children’s consumption to protect health and nutrition, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said.

“It is critical that agencies mandated to protect public health, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), maintain their authority to ensure these products meet high safety standards that protect children from potential harm,” it said in a statement on Tuesday.

One in four children is experiencing the triple burden of malnutrition, including stunting, which affects almost 3 million children, UNICEF said.

“Every child deserves the best nutrition and care to support their growth and development,” said Behzad Noubary, Acting Representative for UNICEF Philippines.

UNICEF said that adequate nutrition during the first 1,000 days is seen as crucial for a child’s growth and development.

It also said that it is crucial to protect and promote breastfeeding while providing the public with accurate, consistent, and objective information about the appropriate use of breast milk substitutes, supplements, and related products.

“Consistent oversight remains necessary to safeguard children’s health and prevent claims about milk and milk products that could mislead families to select less nutritious options,” it said. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante

Target initial operation of new Davao bus system next year achievable: DoTr-11

DAVAO CITY — Officials of the Department of Transportation (DoTr) Davao Region 11 said that the original approved target of Davao City High Priority Bus System’s (HPBS) initial operation in 2026 is still achievable despite the delay.

DoTr Supervising Administrative Officer Nestor Kilian Tabada expressed optimism that this will happen as a general consultant will be assisting them to hit their timelines.

“We have a consultant that’s coming on board. A general consultant coming on board and will be awarded the contract, and this general consultant will help us manage this delay so that while we have estimated timelines, we have estimates as we want to launch this in 2026,” Mr. Tabada said during the session of the 20th City Council at the Sangguniang Panlungsod.

HPBS is one of the flagship projects of the Build, Build, Build program of the Duterte administration, which is being implemented by DoTr and the city government of Davao.

The initial implementation of HPBS was originally eyed in 2026 following the approval of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) in 2019. However, its implementation is experiencing delay for eight months.

“The project has experienced delay and that is why we are catching up with the implementation. When the project was approved by NEDA we are experiencing some eight months delay from the original date of approval,” Mr. Tabada said.

Mr. Tabada is hopeful that with the general consultant coming on board DoTr can pull these timelines this year.

“So, for those components that we can implement earlier hopefully the general consultant can help us manage back,” he said.

Richard Villanueva, Project Evaluation Officer of DoTr Davao Region, assured that despite the delay, the project will happen.

“The eight months delay is unavoidable in a project like this. We will acquire a lot of land for terminals, depots, and bus stops that are more than 1,000. It’s inevitable that we’ll have delays like that, but we’re officially there and the funds are there, it’s just a matter of processing the details,” Mr. Villanueva said in an interview.

HPBS includes the development of public transport terminals in Toril, for those coming from Kidapawan, Cotabato, General Santos; in Calinan, for those passengers coming from Cagayan de Oro City; and Bunawan, for those coming from Davao del Norte and Davao Oriental; depots; and a driving school as key supporting facilities of the modern service; 1,119 bus stops; and more than 1,000 new bus fleets.

Mr. Villanueva explained that among the factors of the delay is the re-study they conducted following the NEDA approval.

“When we re-studied it, we saw that there is something that needs to be added because there are components there that are lacking, like the size of the terminal, the entitlement package for the drivers that they will receive. So, we have to re-apply and get another approval from NEDA,” he said.

The project has a funding of P72 billion that will come from three sources: loan proceeds from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the national government, and the city government of Davao.

In July 2023, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. representing the national government, and ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa formally signed the budget from the ADB amounting to USD 1.71 billion signaling the start of the implementation of the Davao Bus Project.

Mr. Villanueva said it is the target of DoTr to fully pay the landowners affected by the Right-Of-Way (ROW) acquisition this year.

“When you acquire land, the title to the landowners and the arrangement for each family must also be clean. Some documents must also be in order,” he said.

HPBS would replace the existing jeepney network with a four-tier: MetroDavao, DavaoInter, DavaoFeeder, and DavaoLocal; 29-route network operating with larger buses including 18m articulated and 12m bus units, which will significantly reduce the number of public transport vehicles on the roadways. Small 10m buses will also be introduced. — Maya M. Padillo

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