Lawmaker calls for gradual phaseout of fuel-fed PUVs

The government should now start considering a gradual phaseout program on the use of gas and diesel for its public transport system such as buses, jeepneys and tricycles by re-fitting them with natural gas converters or completely replacing them with electric vehicles.

Western Samar Rep. Mel Senen Sarmiento said this will not only help in dramatically reducing the country’s carbon emission problem, especially in the National Capital Region and other highly urbanized areas but it will also provide a long-term solution to endless increase in fuel prices.

Sarmiento’s proposal coincided with the view of Iloilo Rep. Jerry Trenas that there is a need for the government to extend a wide-range of incentives to companies and individuals involved in the advancement of green technology in the country.

Trenas said to ensure the country’s swift and unrestricted transition from a fossil fuel-based economy to the full use of green technology, the government should study the possibility of giving additional tax incentives and other forms of financial relief to companies and individuals involved in the importation, manufacturing, assembly and the research and development of green-technology related commodities

“The technology is available and there is an increasing number of companies that are now manufacturing electric and solar-powered vehicles, hybrid cars and other transport system that harnesses green energy. We should also encourage home-grown green techs by providing funding facilities for research and development,” Trenas said.

According to Sarmiento, instead of extending subsidy to public utility vehicle drivers through the P450-million Pantawid Pasada program, the government can use the money to initially finance the phaseout of gas and diesel-fed jeepneys which are among the biggest air pollutants in Metro Manila and in other urban centers.

“With P450 million, we can already convert at least 154,000 jeepneys and buses into LPGs in one year which will not only increase the take-home earnings of our drivers but it would also mean a great reduction in the volume of our carbon emissions,” Sarmiento said.

An LPG conversion kit for a vehicle costs around P35,000 to P40,000.

Sarmiento added while it would be costly at first to fully replace the present fleet of public utility vehicles with electric vehicles, this will be a good investment for the government in the long run as it does not only give the country a healthier environment but it also opens the opportunity for the government to avail itself of the United Nations program that pays countries with huge carbon emission savings.

And while it is true that it would be impossible to replace each jeepney or bus at one-is-to-one ratio thereby causing economic losses for drivers and operators, the government can provide them with financial assistance and easy- credit access using funds derived from carbon emission trading, a scheme under United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change which mandates industrialized and highly industrialized nation to pay countries for their carbon emission savings.

“We can actually make money while saving the environment and funds that are raised from our carbon emission savings can be used to finance employment opportunities that are centered on environmental protection and the development of green technology which is now one of the most high-paying sector in the planet today,” Sarmiento said.

“Funds raised from the carbon market trading can be utilized as a credit facility for Filipinos who would want to venture into the e-transport business,” he said.

Sarmiento added the Climate Change Commission can be the lead agency for the Philippines in tapping finance resources from the UNFCCC through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

The CDM allows emission-reduction projects in developing countries to earn certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one ton of CO2. These CERs can be traded and sold, and used by industrialized countries to meet a part of their emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol. –Charlie V. Manalo, Daily Tribune