08/10/2026
FAKE NEWS ALERT: Isa na namang kasinungalingang post ang kumakalat sa social media. Ito ay ang claim na ayaw raw pondohan ng national government ang Waste to Energy Project sa Davao.
Here’s what the records show:
The proposed Davao City WTE project was originally backed by a Japanese government grant of ¥5.013 billion, roughly ₱2.5 billion at the time.
But the project was not intended to be funded entirely by Japan. Davao City officials said the remaining roughly ₱3.5 billion was to come from the Philippine national government as counterpart funding.
According to Philippine News Agency, in 2022, the Davao City government reported that ₱740 million had been secured from DENR toward the needed ₱3.5 billion, while the city was working with national agencies to secure the rest.
As of May 2023, however, the ₱3.486-billion national-government request had not yet been approved, and construction could not proceed without the additional funding.
SunStar reported that in 2024, a Mindanao Development Authority official said the national government was still pursuing the WTE project and studying implementation, with the Japanese grant as its funding source.
More recently, reporting in 2025 said the project had been stalled and that the financing arrangement was being reconsidered, including a possible Japanese government/BOT/PPP approach.
So, the poster's statement:
“Sisimulan na ng Japanese Government matapos umano hindi pundohan ng national government,” is not an accurate way to describe the documented history.
A more accurate wording would be:
“₱5–7 BILLION NA WASTE-TO-ENERGY PROJECT SA DAVAO: JAPAN MAY GRANT, HABANG HUMILING DIN ANG DAVAO CITY NG ₱3.5-BILYONG COUNTERPART FUND MULA SA NATIONAL GOVERNMENT.”
And importantly, the project has had different financing proposals over the years, so we should not state that Japan is currently paying the entire ₱5–7 billion without current documentation.
