DOE donates 900 e-trikes to 4 Metro LGUs

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Energy (DOE) is donating 900 electric tricycles (e-trikes) to four Metro Manila local government units (LGUs) and plans more rollouts to help them transition to cleaner transport vehicles, an official said yesterday.

The DOE has signed a memoranda of agreement (MOA) with the cities of Las Piñas, Muntinlupa and Valenzuela and the municipality of Pateros.

“The DOE E-Trike is a project that encourages the transition from oil to cleaner sources of energy,” DOE Secretary Alfonso Cusi said.

The DOE will provide 100 e-trikes to Las Piñas, 150 to Muntinlupa, 400 to Pateros and 250 to Valenzuela. Each e-trike costs P450,000.

“The 900 units to be given to the four cities will benefit many communities, in terms of livelihood and the services that it can provide to the people,” Cusi said.

Under the MOA, the LGUs must comply with the documentary requirements, among other prerequisites, such as their proposal for the utilization of the e-trikes.

The donations form part of the DOE’s joint program with the Asian Development Bank called the Market Transformation through Introduction of Energy Efficient Electric Vehicles (E-Trikes) Project.

Under the program, 3,000 e-trikes were completed and ready for deployment within the first half of the year.

The DOE donated 200 e-trikes to the Marawi City government in January as part of the national government’s efforts to rebuild the city after the siege by militants in 2017.