By Atty. Roland Collado
Colossians 4:6 says, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person”.
With this new column, I believe I would be able to connect my thoughts to the readers of Mindanao Daily in spreading the gospel of truth, justice, peace and progress with minimal collateral damage whatsoever.
That being said, I would like to start off on a very relevant topic: clean environment,
clean energy, clean air and of course clean transport system of which I am very familiar with.
Being well aware with the pros and cons in the transport sector, I am sharing here why we need to modernize the country’s transport sector.
The government launched the Public Transport Modernization Program (PTMP) formerly called the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) in 2017
in a bid to phase out the old, smoke-belching traditional jeepneys where they will be retired and replaced with modernized, smoke—free vehicles meeting safety and environmental standards such as Euro 4 and electric vehicles.
These iconic jeepneys are already old and have higher emissions levels.
As a result, they spew harmful pollutants, compromising the air quality of urban centers like Cagayan de Oro.
A report from Clean Air Asia revealed that
diesel-powered jeepneys contribute 15 percent of the total particulate matter emissions. Air pollution is considered a “silent killer”.
Phasing them out and replacing them with modernized transport vehicles will reduce harmful air pollution emissions and improve passengers’ safety and comfort.
The country’s push to modernize its public vehicle fleet is a step in the right direction.
Financial support to the jeepney operators will allow them to switch to cleaner vehicles and safeguard their livelihoods while providing with safe, reliable, convenient, and environmentally sustainable public transport solution.
In this regard, there is one electric vehicle company called
e-Future Motors Philippines (PH) Inc. that revolutionizes the country’s transport sector by manufacturing electric vehicles.
E-Future Motors a subsidiary of Jiangsu Fengchuen New Energy Power Technology Co. Ltd. with head office in Wuxi, Jiangsu province and factory in Jiangyin City in China, which manufactures new energy commercial vehicles such as e-jeepneys and battery systems.
Chief executive officer BK Shin, a Korean national said E-Future Motors is proposing to build a manufacturing plant for e-vehicles in the country.
In the future, we will put in more investments to manufacture e-vehicles, Shin said.
The E-Future motor vehicle will have a new look of the iconic Pinoy jeepney.
