THE Davao Light and Power Company said it expects Phase 2 of the Ramon Magsaysay Avenue Underground Cabling Project to be completed before the Araw ng Dabaw festivities.
Fermin Edillon, head of Davao Light’s Reputation Enhancement Department, said a minor delay occurred because some equipment did not arrive on schedule.
Phase 2 stretches from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Office to the Unity Archway at the junction of Magsaysay Avenue and Quezon Boulevard. Afterward, the project will move along C. Bangoy Street (formerly Ponciano Reyes Street) and eventually reach Quirino Avenue, Edillon said.
Engr. Enriczar Tia, Davao Light president and chief operating officer, said the downtown underground cabling initiative is now more than 50 percent complete, with remaining areas covering Ponciano–Pelayo and Quirino Avenue.
Edillon noted that Covid-19-related delays pushed back the overall timeline.
“Naga-adjust pa pud ta sa timeline, wala pa ta kay naga-review pa ta ug balik (We are still adjusting the schedule; we don’t have a final date yet because we are reviewing it again),” he told reporters Tuesday, January 20, 2026, at the Sangguniang Panlungsod.
Since the project’s launch, several local government units (LGUs) from Metro Manila and the Ilocos Region have visited Davao City to study the initiative and explore replicating it in their own areas.
The underground cabling project, mandated under City Ordinance No. 0177-14 authored in 2014 by the late Councilor Leonardo Avila, requires electrical and telecommunications wires to be relocated underground as part of Davao City’s modernization efforts.
The first phase began in 2016 near City Hall and the Sangguniang Panlungsod. In March 2023, Davao Light inaugurated the first of five phases along San Pedro Street, covering 0.6 kilometers from City Hall to Quirino Avenue.
Four months later, the city government and Davao Light broke ground for Phase 2 along Ramon Magsaysay Avenue, with Phase 1 of the avenue’s underground cabling switched on April 14, 2025. RGP