An official of the City Government of Davao is pushing for the creation of a trust fund or special account to ensure funding for the Davao Bus Project.

Davao Bus Project Head and Assistant City Administrator for Administration, Atty. Tristan Dwight Dominggo, said the trust fund will serve as the city’s counterpart to the project.

The city government has committed P1.5 billion as counterpart funding, where a certain amount will be allocated annually until 2030 based on project requirements.

“The creation of trust fund next year o hopefully within this year, before the year ends would not be requiring us to put 1.5 billion pesos immediately to that account. We have to remember that the implementation of the Davao Bus Project would be a multi-year undertaking for the city government,” Dominggo said.

The project has already been delayed for two years. The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said it is working to meet the timelines.

Acting Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte said earlier that the delay can be attributed to the lack of budget allocation from the national government.

The total funding required for the Davao Bus Project is P73.4 billion, sourced from a loan from the Asian Development Bank, the national government, and the Davao City LGU.

“As the Project Manager, I would say it’s urgent. Like I said earlier, although we were cut short, the beauty of us having this one kasi, we can always tell the national government, look our money is here. Where’s yours, diba? Even ADB, ADBs money is always ready, it’s there,” Dominggo added.

Based on monitoring, the 2026 National Expenditure Program includes a budget allocation for the project, but it is insufficient to fully implement the planned project activities.