(Davao City, 6 December 2022). The Infrastructure Development Committee (IDC) XI convened for its 4^th Quarter CY 2022 Regular Meeting on 6 December 2022 at the NEDA-RDC XI Convention Center, SPED Area, Bangkal, Davao City.

In his opening message, the IDC XI Co-Chairperson and Presiding Officer, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) XI Regional Director Rey Peter B. Gille thanked all the members of the Committee, which was reconstituted into the Infrastructure Sector Planning Committee, for the valuable inputs in the formulation of the infrastructure sector component of the Davao Regional Development Plan (DRDP) for the planning period, 2023-2028. The outputs of the 2 Infrastructure Sector Planning Committee Workshops conducted on September 20, 2022 and October 27, 2022 were subjected to a Multi-stakeholder Consultation and Consistency Checking on November 17, 2022. All comments and recommendations considered, the draft DRDP, 2023-2028 shall be reviewed by the RDC XI during its Full Council Meeting on December 13, 2022.

For meeting’s business agenda, the Secretariat presented the Infrastructure Component of the Davao Regional Development Investment Program (RDIP), 2023-2028 which is an accompanying document of the DRDP, 2023-2028. In summary, a total of 2,975 proposed infrastructure Programs, Activities and Projects (PAPs) amounting to Php 312.6 Billion were endorsed to the RDC XI.

The Committee also reviewed the Region’s infrastructure sector performance for the 3^rd Quarter CY 2022 through the Results Matrices Progress Report. Overall, for the Infrastructure sector, 60 percent of indicators from Chapter 12 and 19 of the DRDP, 2017-2022 are on track or exceeding their targets. As the plan period is nearing its end, some of end-of-plan targets were not on track in fully achieving its realization. These targets are also considered and included in the next planning period.

The Bureau of Agricultural and Fisheries Engineering (BAFE) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) presented the Davao Region component of the Farm-to-Market Road Network Plan which included an overview of its “GEOAGRI” website which is an online interactive Management Informative System (MIS) portal that consolidate, store/manage, process, and analyze GIS-based data of the Farm-to-Market Road Projects of the Department and other road projects of National Government Agencies (NGAs) and Local Government Units (LGUs).

Next, the Committee endorsed DPWH XI’s Proposed Inter-Regional Roads and Bridges Programs and Projects, for the Period 2023-2028 to the NEDA Board Regional Development Committee-Mindanao Area Committee as the Region’s inputs in the updating of the Mindanao Spatial Strategy Development Framework, 2015-2045.

DPWH XI also presented the updates on the implementation of Flyover along Davao City Diversion Road (Jct. Magtuod/Maa Section), Davao City which includes the construction of 4-lane flyover with a length of 400 lm. amounting to php 2.047 billion. delay in project implementation is caused by existing main water distribution pipes of the Davao City Water District found near flyover foundation which has to be relocated first before the resumption of the construction activities.

The first agenda for the afternoon session was a presentation from the Department of Transportation on their Medium-Term Investment Plan for the airports in Davao Region namely, the Davao International Airport (DIA) and the Mati City Airport. On the Unsolicited Proposal the Operation, Expansion, Capacity Augmentation, and Operation and Maintenance of the DIA,  through a letter dated October 19, 2022 to the proponent, Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp was requested to submit a revised proposal pursuant to the Revised 2022 Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Build, Operate, Transfer (BOT) Law.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Philippines (CAAP) XI then apprised the Committee on the status of the Operationalization of the Davao International Airport Authority (DIAA). A request for the approval of its FY 2023 Budget Proposal was sent to the House of Representatives and the Senate of the Philippines.

The next 2 agenda items were agreements arising from its 3^rd Quarter CY 2022 Regular Meeting on September 20, 2022  to request for implementation updates on high-impact infrastructure projects in Davao Region. For the Sasa Port Development Plan under the Port Terminal Management Regulatory Framework, Globalport Davao Terminal Inc., informed of their plan to expand and rehabilitate the existing berths at Sasa Port, as well as, the procurement of additional cranes and heavy equipment as part of the port modernization/development plan. On the Davao City Expressway Project of the DPWH-Unified Project Management Office (UPMO), there is ongoing application for Environmental Compliance Certificate from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for the construction of this 29.21 km expressway amounting to Php 80.528 Billion.

Lastly, a regular item in quarterly meetings is the “Implementation Updates on Ongoing Major Infrastructures Projects in Davao Region”. The IDC XI members were apprised of implementation updates on major infrastructures projects in Davao Region, to wit: the Mindanao Railway Project (MRP) Tagum-Davao-Digos Segment and the High Priority Bus System (HPBS) from the Project Management Offices (PMOs) of the Department of Transportation (DoTr), as well as, the Davao City Bypass Construction Project (DCBCP) and Samal Island-Davao Connector (SIDC) from the DPWH-UPMO)

The MRP-PMO reported that its Right-of-Way Site Acquisition activities are still on-going particularly the issuance of the Notices of Taking by the concerned LGUs with Tagum City at 100%, Municipality of Carmen at 95.98%, Panabo City at 98.92%, Davao City at 89.84%, Municipality of Sta. Cruz at 98.49% and Digos City at 96.05%. Moreover, the DOTr-PMO reported that 1st tranche of payment to 1 landowner in Panabo City was released.

On the HPBS, the PMO informed of several activities it is currently undertaking, viz:

• On the proposed changes in scope, increase in cost, and changes in timelines, DoTr submitted the updated ICC-PE forms, revised economic and financial models to align the instruction from ICC-TB;
• On the right-of-way site acquisition, there is ongoing removal of utility poles along identified major thoroughfares;
• On the procurement process, all 4 Design and Build contracts were already published;
• On the Social Development Program, the registration and validation of Project-affected Persons; and
• There is also Ongoing finalization of the Informal Settler Families (ISF) masterlist for the resettlement activities.

The DPWH-UPMO, on the other hand, updated the Committee on the DCBCP’s on-going tunnel excavation at the North and South Portals for Package I-1 with an overall accomplishment of 21.3281% vs. the proposed revised schedule. As of November 2022, tunnel excavation at the North Portal is now at 232 meters for its northbound tunnel and 292 meters for its southbound tunnel. Meanwhile, tunnel excavation at the South Portal is now at 332 meters for its northbound tunnel and 247 meters for its southbound tunnel

On the SIDC, the DPWH-UPMO reported that the Detailed Engineering Design is at 18.06% completion. The expropriation cases against those Project Affected Persons in Samal Island, by which Negotiated Sale is no longer feasible, were already filed before the Regional Trial Court. Moreover, payment under Negotiated Sale is on process in DPWH Finance Service for 11 out of the 40 lots. The draft Memorandum of Agreement for the creation of a Multipartite Monitoring Team (MMT) for the SIDC Project had already undergone initial review of DENR and already resubmitted to DENR for further review.

Moving forward, the Committee shall continue to closely monitor the Davao Region’s performance under the infrastructure sector, as well as, implementation of these crucial infrastructure projects in the Region, especially those identified under the present Administration’s Build, Build, Build (BBB) Program.

Emil B. Clarito, NEDA XI