Infrastructure
Davao Twin Tunnels: Budget, Builders and Opening Target
A sourced guide to Davao's twin mountain tunnels: who started and built the project, what the funding figures cover, and what remains uncertain about its opening.
Quick Answer
The flagship 2,300-meter Davao infrastructure project represents a major engineering milestone linking Toril to Panabo City.
What the Davao twin tunnel project will connect
Davao City's twin mountain road tunnels have reached a major excavation milestone, but that does not mean motorists can already drive through the full bypass. The two tubes, each about 2.3 kilometers long, form part of the 45.5 kilometer Davao City Bypass Construction Project linking Barangay Sirawan in Toril to Barangay J.P. Laurel in Panabo City, Davao del Norte.
The tunnels provide separate routes for northbound and southbound traffic. PIA places the tunnel project in Magtuod, while JICA's breakthrough account identifies Barangay Waan. These are locations along the tunnel works; Sirawan and Panabo are the endpoints of the much longer bypass corridor.
JICA describes the tunnels as the Philippines' longest mountain road tunnels. Its September 2025 release confirms excavation through both tubes. Japan's embassy recorded the northbound breakthrough ceremony on April 28, 2025 and the southbound ceremony on August 29, 2025. Those dates mark construction ceremonies, rather than the start of public road operations.
Who initiated it, and who is building it?
The Department of Public Works and Highways is the implementing agency. The financing record goes back to August 25, 2015, during President Benigno Aquino III's administration, when Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and JICA President Akihiko Tanaka signed the original Davao bypass loan. This establishes that the project was already formally financed before the Duterte administration; it does not establish who first conceived the route.
Construction advanced under the Duterte administration and continued under the Marcos administration. The tunnel package contractor is a joint venture of Japan's Shimizu Corporation and Takenaka Civil Engineering & Construction, together with the Philippines' Ulticon Builders. Shimizu identifies itself and Takenaka as responsible for the tunnel construction.
Shimizu's account distinguishes several starting dates: the formal contract was signed in October 2020, instructions to start work followed in December, and main road construction began in April 2021. Excavation started at the north entrance in November 2021 and at the south entrance in April 2022. The Japanese embassy independently records an inspection on November 19, 2021 to witness the start of boring.
Crews used the New Austrian Tunneling Method, which works with the surrounding ground's load bearing capacity. That does not mean the rock was left unsupported. Shimizu describes soft mudstone, water ingress risks and sections needing reinforcement, alongside concrete lining work. Ground conditions help explain why completing excavation is only one stage of a tunnel project.
How much does it cost?
The figures need to be read by scope and date. PIA reported an estimated PHP13.23 billion for Contract Package I-1 in April 2024. That package includes the mountain tunnels and other road works; the figure is not a standalone price for the two tunnel tubes or the cost of the entire bypass. Shimizu separately reported an approximately JPY28.2 billion contract signed in 2020.
Japan's financing also came in successive loan agreements. The original 2015 loan was JPY23.906 billion. JICA records a second phase of JPY34.830 billion in 2020, followed by a third loan of JPY46.338 billion signed in March 2025. These are financing commitments for the supported project scope, rather than three separate tunnel contracts.
For that reason, the earlier draft's USD232.74 million should not be presented as the complete, current financing total. Nor should yen loan commitments be added to a peso construction package estimate: they are different accounting measures that can cover the same works. The Philippine government also funds portions of the corridor. A current total project budget would require a consolidated, dated DPWH cost statement; the verified package estimate above should not be relabeled as that total.
How far along is it, and when will it open?
SunStar's January 20, 2026 report, citing regional planning officials, put overall accomplishment at 49.26 percent as of December 31, 2025. It placed the tunnel package at 65.89 percent. These are historical snapshots of different scopes, not measurements of progress today.
A later RDC XI monitoring account reports 38.33 percent overall accomplishment as of April 2026 and identifies right of way constraints. That is lower than the earlier published figure. The available accounts do not explain the difference, so they should not be combined into a continuous progress trend or treated as evidence that completed construction went backwards. A comparable updated percentage still needs clarification from the implementing agency.
Opening schedules also refer to different scopes. JICA's March 2025 loan announcement listed December 2027 as the planned start of facility operations for its supported project. SunStar's January 2026 report cited a DPWH target of full bypass operation in 2028. Neither is a confirmed opening day. Completing tunnel excavation does not establish that all connecting roads and operating facilities are ready.
The intended benefit is substantial: JICA estimates travel between the corridor's endpoints could fall from one hour and 44 minutes to 49 minutes. That is a project forecast, not an observed journey time on an operating bypass. Its usefulness will depend on the connected route being completed and available to traffic.
Did the project reach Japanese news?
Japanese language coverage is verifiable. JICA published a Japanese report on the tunnel breakthrough, and Shimizu released a Japanese project update in December 2023. Those publications show that information about the Davao works was made available to Japanese readers, including discussion of Japanese technology and engineering participation.
They do not, by themselves, confirm that a particular Japanese television station aired the story. No specific broadcast was verified for this article. The defensible description is that the tunnels received Japanese institutional and corporate coverage, while the claim about a television news appearance remains unconfirmed.