E-jeepney is OK, but …

Senator Pia Cayetano. RYAN LEAGOGO/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–Electric jeepneys’ being environmentally friendly is not a sufficient reason to allow them in the Philippines, especially if the roads are congested and those jeepneys are imported rather than locally developed, according to Sen. Pia Cayetano.

Cayetano, in a recent hearing on sustainable transportation, said bringing in electric jeepneys must be part of a traffic management plan.

Just because electric jeepneys are considered beneficial to the environment does not mean there is automatically room for them in Philippine cities and towns, she said.

“Of course, I want something environmentally friendly, but environmentally friendly alone does not necessarily tackle other issues like traffic management,” she said at last week’s hearing.

“We’re so proud that e-jeeps are environmentally friendly that we let cities get 20 or 100 of them. But that’s still more rolling vehicles on the road that cannot afford to have a single extra vehicle,” Cayetano said.

Comprehensive plan

She noted that not all of the electric jeepneys in the country are covered by franchises. Rolling out electric jeepneys must be part of a comprehensive plan that would take into consideration how big the vehicles should be and how many could be deployed, she said.

The lack of planning is “very frustrating,” she added.

Cayetano said she had been a supporter of the electric jeepney, earlier calling on the government to grant franchises to e-jeep operators.

But she had assumed, she said, that the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) was doing a study to determine whether there was a need for additional vehicles on the road.

Cayetano also pointed out that most of the electric jeepneys in the country are imported, when the Philippines has a jeepney industry that should be supported and developed.

Jeepney is Filipino

The jeepney is a Philippine invention that has become a big part of the country’s cultural heritage, and it must not be overshadowed by imports, she said.

“I don’t find it acceptable that one group is rolling out e-jeeps that are imported and we have a local jeepney industry. Sustainability means providing jobs. And thats’s also where one of my strong advocacies comes in. That’s our heritage, that’s our culture, this jeepney culture,” she said.

She said she would not want to see a proliferation of imported electric jeepneys or other countries selling electric jeepneys to the Philippines as an alternative to locally built jeepneys.

Instead of replacing the local jeepneys with foreign-made ones, the government must step in to transform them into a more sustainable form of public transportation, she said.

Assistant Transportation Secretary Sherielysse Bonifacio said during last week’s hearing that the DOTC’s National Implementation Plan was focused focused not only on environmentally friendly forms of transportation, but also on sustainable ones.

Bonifacio said the goal was to provide accessible, affordable, safe, resilient and sustainable transport systems.

Asean goal

She said this was the goal of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and an Asean commitment to which the Philippines adhered.

As for electric jeepneys, the DOTC has no policy yet, but it entertains every application, she said.

To determine whether there are enough public vehicles, there must be an origin-destination study, which has not been done since 1996, she said.

Such a study shows where people are going, and ideally it should be done every five years, she said.

The Metro Manila study, however, is being updated by the Japan International Cooperation Agency and results are expected next November, she said.

Awarding franchises

Bonifacio said Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya was looking for a scientific way of awarding franchises for public vehicles.

At present, the issuance of franchises, which is based on public demand in a particular transport corridor, is “very subjective,” she said.