Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada is set to introduce electric tricycles or E-trikes to Malate, the district that’s part of the city’s tourist belt, with the distribution of 80 more units of the environment-friendly public transport vehicles to another batch of beneficiaries.
Estrada said this is a testament of his administration’s earnest desire to help Manila’s “poorest of the poor” have their own source of livelihood while at the same time take part in the national government’s efforts to fight pollution.
“As I have promised before, more indigent Manileños, particularly those poor tricycle and ‘kuliglig’ drivers, will benefit from this E-trike program,” Estrada said
“They cannot just be drivers forever, now have their own new tricycles. With no daily boundary to pay to the operator, they’ll earn more for their families,” he added.
The Estrada administration launched its E-trike project last April as a means to combat air pollution and improve the livelihood of some 1,500 legally franchised tricycle drivers in the city and 25,000 others “colorum” drivers of tricycles and kuliglig or motorized bicycles.
Last April, Estrada gave away 50 brand-new E-trikes to the first batch of driver-beneficiaries in Binondo.
The distribution of E-trikes to the second group of beneficiaries in Malate will be held next week, according to 4thDistrict Councilor Eduardo “Bimbo” Quintos XVI.
All the beneficiaries are indigents, or those who earn less than P12,000 a month with three or more dependents, and are legitimate residents of Manila, Quintos added.
The E-trikes will be financed through the “boundary-hulog” system, where the driver-owners will only pay the city government P150 to P250 a day for four years at zero interest. Each unit costs around P400,000.
“This is an honest-to-goodness livelihood project of Mayor Erap, actually the first in Metro Manila. After four years, sa kanila na ‘yung E-trike, no capital needed,” Quintos stressed.
By paying as low as P150 a day, he said an E-trike driver-owner will get to take home P1,200 to P1,500 income a day. Charging of the vehicle’s batteries, meanwhile, is free at the five charging stations put up by the city government and the project proponents.
Estrada, Quintos added, initially wants 100 E-trikes at each of the six districts of Manila, particularly at the city’s famous tourist spots.
“Imagine owning your own E-trike by just paying at least P150 day, no down payment. And the vehicle is virtually maintenance-free, and with absolutely no carbon emission,” the councilor stressed.
The city government has bought 280 units of E-trikes, at P400,000 each, for distribution this year
The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), on the other hand, has constructed several charging stations, the first one was in Binondo.
The Japanese-manufactured E-trikes run on gel-type batteries than can be fully charged for only 4 to 5 hours. It can carry up to six passengers and has a maximum speed of 40 to 45 kilometer per hour (kph).