The Department of Energy (DOE) is donating 900 electric tricycles (e-trikes) to four Manila local government units in order to help them transition to cleaner transport vehicles.
The DOE and four LGUs signed a memoranda of agreement (MOA); the cities are Las Piñas, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, and Municipality of Pateros.
“The 900 units to be given to the four cities will benefit many communities, in terms of livelihood and the services that it can provide to the people,” Cusi said.
The LGUs must comply with the documentary requirement, among other prerequisites, such as their proposal for the utilization of the e-trikes in their LGUs, as the MOA stated.
The e-trikes to be donated form part of the DOE’s joint program with Asian Development Bank (ADB) called “Market Transformation through Introduction of Energy Efficient Electric Vehicles (E-Trikes) Project.
Around 3,000 e-trikes were completed and ready for deployment within the first half of the year.
In addition, the DOE donated e-trike units to the Marawi LGU in January as part of the national government’s rebuilding efforts in the city after the siege.
The donation was made to help rebuild the city following a five-month take-over by terrorists that resulted to more than P17 billion in property damage and opportunities lost.
The agency signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) to donate 200 e-trikes, which approximately costs around P90 million.
TFBM, which was established under Administrative Order (AO) No. 3 issued by President Duterte on June 28, 2017, is a group of different government agencies tasked to facilitate the rehabilitation, recovery and reconstruction of Marawi City.
The first 10 of the 200 units will arrive in Cagayan de Oro on Sunday, while the rest of the shipment is still being scheduled by the Philippine Navy.
“What we have allocated is 200 units for Marawi, which we are even willing to increase to 500 as long as they can manage the units,” Cusi said.
The DOE promotes the revolutionary concept of modernizing the transport sector by providing an efficient, safe, ergonomic and environment-friendly alternative mode of transport via the Market Transformation Through the Introduction of Energy Efficient Vehicles (E-trike) Project.
