Press Release
January 30, 2011

COMSTE, ELECTRIC VEHICLE ALLIANCE TO PUSH FOR ADB FUNDING

The Congressional Commission on Science and Technology and Engineering (COMSTE) and the Electric Vehicle Alliance of the Philippines (EVAP) are collaborating to stimulate the growth of the local e vehicle industry with the help of funding agencies such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The ADB recently announced that it would fund a project that would deploy 20,000 units of electric tricycles in the Philippines through its e vehicle program. Working together with the Department of Energy (DOE) the ADB has tapped a local designer for the said units.

In a recent meeting held at eh Clean Air Initiative Asia (CAI-Asia) various government agencies and industry players and members of the EVAP gathered to lay out plans for developing the e vehicle industry.

The EVAP, including other government agencies (DOST, DOTC, DTI) claim that the process by which the contract was awarded should be reviewed and carried out in accordance with Philippines laws.

The group agrees that in order to develop and stimulate local e-vehicle suppliers and manufacturers, the 20,000 units should be divided accordingly through proper bidding procedures and distributing the workload with the other local companies.

If the situation changes and contracts are awarded to multiple suppliers and manufacturers, it would be an opportunity for the country to take advantage of developing our local industry through leverage, public awareness in using Green Transportation alternatives, and environmental preservation.

COMSTE has identified the development of electric vehicles and green transport as priority projects of the commission for 2011.

Senator Edgardo J. Angara, Chair of COMSTE, said that innovative Green transport systems such as electric tricycles, hybrid jeepneys, buses and electric bicycles have the potential to lessen pollution caused by conventional transportation and the dependency on fossil fuels.

News Latest News Feed