DAVAO CITY—The 18th city council here expects that the city will receive major projects such as the Davao City railway system, especially now that the president is the former mayor.
Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang said that under previous presidents, the city did not receive fair budgets and all projects were realized through the initiative and hard work of former mayor President Rodrigo Duterte.
Dayanghirang said he met with Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Mark Villar to discuss the proposed projects for easing the traffic problem in the city.
“We have to test the viability of an MRT [Metro Railway Transit]. It was the proposed project of the Koreans, we want to know the status of it,” the councilor said.
The MRT project was proposed during Duterte’s term in 2014, but it was put on hold by the National Economic and Development Authority.
Dayanghirang also mentioned a proposed Coastal Road from Matina to Toril area as a further solution to traffic.
He said the council and the executive branch need to review all proposed projects through the Executive and Legislative Agenda and submit it to the DPWH national office for budgeting.
The city also plans to put up a cable car, Dayanghirang said.
The 2017 budget of the city government of Davao is expected to be between 10 percent to 14 percent higher than the present amount, said Dayanghirang, who heads the committee on finance and ways and means.
Dayanghirang said the city’s budget next year might reach P7 billion following the increase in the Internal Revenue Allotment of the city.