THE Davao City Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) revealed that the city has a total of 71 traffic signals as of 2025, but 31 of them are non-operational.
Lawyer Edward Perez, officer-in-charge of the CTTMO, said that a substantial amount of funding is needed to repair and renovate some of the city's traffic signals, and due to limited resources, some areas cannot be prioritized. He cited as an example the installation of traffic signals in Panacan, which costs approximately P12 million for its complete overhaul.
“Mao to amoang [These are our] limitations when we implemented these additional traffic signals,” Perez said during the ISpeak media forum, on Thursday, July 10, 2025, at the City Mayor’s Office (CMO).
He, however, explained that the delay in installing and upgrading the traffic signals is because the Davao City government is still awaiting the implementation of the Davao Bus Project, which, among its components, is the modernization of traffic signals to ensure that buses will be given priority at intersections.
Perez shared that their office has been tasked with identifying areas and intersections in need of traffic signals. In 2021, they submitted a list of over 20 areas urgently needing traffic signals, but only a P30 million budget was approved. Given the limited budget, they managed to narrow the implementation down to five areas: Panacan, Malagamot, Eden Street in Maa, Bioessence in Sarrenas, and Ecowest Drive in Ecoland.
One of their plans, he added, is to create a technical working group to reassess priority areas, as needs have shifted over time. With the help of this group, they were able to identify locations that are in more urgent need of traffic signals.
Perez further said that the office currently has 30 CTTMO personnel, who replaced its previous staff, undergoing on-the-job training. They have already requested an undisclosed number of additional staff.
At present, the office has a total of 600 personnel, 400 of whom are field staff. Some are part of the Special Operations Team (SOT), cycle units, and the Anti-Jaywalking Team, among others. RGP
