April 30, Palawan, Philippines – Electric tricycles (E-trikes) have already started to roam the streets of San Vicente thanks to a grant deal facilitated by GGGI and financed by the Asian Development Bank through the Department of Energy, which provided 50 units of e-trikes amounting to nearly half a million US dollars.
This is one of the first investment projects resulting from the Eco-Town Planning in San Vicente, which has been significantly supported by technical advice from GGGI and the Climate Change Commission (CCC) since 2012.
“We thank GGGI’s and CCC’s technical assistance to San Vicente, from the ‘Eco-town’ planning until now seeing its implementation on the ground. The e-trike units handed over to us will benefit us by generating employment and improving mobility of its residents, without the pollution and noise. It is a symbol for green growth,” said Mr. James Paul S. Inawasan, Municipal Administrator of San Vicente.
The grant deal benefitted from the Asian Development Bank-funded “Market Transformation through the Introduction of Energy Efficient Electric Vehicles Program” which aims to transform the tricycle sub-sector by replacing traditional tricycles with electric powered units.
“I congratulate San Vicente for being a model municipality in terms of climate resilience and green growth. This achievement, made possible through our partnership with GGGI, is a key milestone as we pursue the implementation of the Provincial-level Climate Resilient Green Growth Framework in Palawan. I think it is just a start,” said Ms. Ninfa B. Rubio, Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator of Palawan.
According to the Department of Energy, e-trikes save fuel amounting to 194.50 peso per day compared to 2-stroke gasoline-led tricycles. The Municipality of San Vincente gave priority to driving operators of the gasoline-led tricycles to replace them with a fee-based lease arrangement. The fees collected will be utilized to purchase more e-trikes and/or enhancing the capacity of charging stations.
“GGGI would like to support action. There are many studies on bookshelves and several talking festivals on green growth, but we all know that what’s more important is to walk the talk,” said Mr. Juhern Kim, GGGI Philippines Country Representative.
“From that perspective, GGGI would like to congratulate all stakeholders for doing their own roles to make actual things happened. GGGI will keep exploring investable green growth projects that can bring meaningful impact to the region,” he added.
GGGI’s technical team structured this project, and it was led by Rhoel C. Bernardo, who also led the Eco-town project in San Vincente which scaled up to the provincial level Climate Resilient Green Growth planning project in Palawan, with the support of Gilda Garibay, Mae Valdez, and Reby Orbista. GGGI also facilitated the turn-over of 50 E-trikes for the Municipality of Brooke’s Point in Palawan, February 2019.
The E-trike Turnover Ceremony held at the San Vicente Management Center and was attended by Antonio V. Gonzales (Acting Municipal Mayor), Lourdes Maria A. Capricho (Chief, Alternative Fuels and Energy Technology Division, DOE), and Renato Fernandez (Chairman, Committee on Transportation, Municipal Council).
