E-jeepney can withstand weekly gas price spike

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Obviously high fuel prices are here to stay. The factors that pushed crude oil rates to $135 per barrel will remain. Fast-growing China and India will continue to gulp down more oil. Searches for alternative fuels will still be slow. Oil powers will continue to hoard dollars and euros with which to buy the world’s largest food, pharmaceutical and electronics companies. Oil may even hit $200 by early 2009.

So what’s the government doing to ease the jab of fuel price spikes on consumers? Nothing. On the contrary, it even raised jeepney and bus fares to appease its transport sector allies. And it has rejected calls to lower the taxes on imported fuel and royalties on local ones. Cabinet men appear to have lost the creativity they displayed in hiding from the public the details of the fertilizer, NBN-ZTE and swine scams.

One feasible solution is staring them in the face. Oddly they haven’t noticed. The usual “kickbackers” probably see no money in it.

The electric jeepney has been in operation for a year now. Deployed in Makati, Baguio, Puerto Princesa and Bacolod in April to October, it has proved to drivers and commuters its practicability in the face of weekly fuel price hikes. The 15-seater e-jeepney runs not on the usual diesel or gasoline but on battery power. All it needs is an eight-hour charge overnight of its special battery, and it can run 100-120 km at a safe top speed of 40 kph. That means that on a usual five-km jeepney route, say Washington-Ayala in Makati, the e-jeepney can run up to three days on a single battery charge — costing only P110-P140, in lieu of the usual P1,500 a day for fossil fuels.

The savings not only can improve the drivers’ incomes, but also be passed on to commuters.

There are other benefits. The e-jeepney does not emit toxic fumes that cause lung cancer, chronic cough and other respiratory ailments. It does not smog up the city. It does not deplete foreign reserves the way oil imports do.

And since it’s assembled cheap on funding by the environmentalist Green Renewable Independent Power Producer (GRIPP), there’s no room for bribes. The e-jeepney does not induce corruption, and that’s probably why government isn’t so hot about it.

It took the Department of Transportation and Communication all of ten months to classify the e-jeepney and so enable its registration as a road vehicle. The classification was by no means sophisticated, as in rating jet liners for weight and consequent load on airport runways. The DOTC was simply too slow to come up with a unique English term for the e-jeepney: “low-speed vehicle”. Hooray!

Fortunately, the private sector is filling the void left by do-nothing government, Sen. Pia Cayetano reports. The Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturers Association of the Philippines has linked up with GRIPP to produce four-dozen e-jeepneys locally. That will be further foreign currency savings, as the e-jeepneys are presently assembled in China. It can also be an economic booster as well.

But the government doesn’t see that. In has always been slow to support new energy-saving ideas. As far back as 2002, for instance, Shell had announced that it could supply and compress natural gas from Palawan’s Malampaya well to run public transport vehicles. Operators sounded out the Development Bank of the Philippines for loans to convert diesel bus engines into CNG and set up filling stations at depots. Everyone was enthusiastic, except the DOTC.

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Coconut farmers never had it so good. With new but simple know-how, they can now extract three types of biofuels: ethanol from tuba (coco-wine), methane from the decomposing shell, and biodiesel from copra. All three products have ready markets, and mean added cash in the pockets of coco planters. That’s why the Cooperative of Coconut Development Farmers and Expansion Workers is resisting plans to suspend the biofuels program.

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E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

Premature campaigning minana natin sa US

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Miyerkoles, June 4, 2008

HINDI lang pala sa Pilipinas asal ng pulitiko na kumilos batay lang sa planong kandidatura. Gan’un din sa United States. At nilantad ‘yan sa bagong libro ng walang iba kundi si dating White House spokesman Scott McClellan, tungkol kay President George W. Bush.

Anang dating loyalistang McClellan, puro pansariling propaganda imbis na kapakanan ng mamamayan ang ina­atupag ng amo. Permanente silang nangangampanya, aniya, mula nang sumali sa admin nu’ng 2002, matapos ang unang taon sa unang termino ni Bush. Minanipula nila ang opinyong publiko para suportahan ang mga masa­samang desisyon, tulad ng paglusob sa Iraq at pag­waldas ng perang pangkalusugan. Aniya, isang mata ni Bush ay palaging nakasulyap sa kalendaryo — sa kampanya nu’ng 2002 para sa Kongreso, at nu’ng 2004 para sa ikalawang termino niya.

Dinetalye ni McClellan ang pagpo-propaganda. Tuwing umaga, nagkakaisa sila kung ano ang magiging opisyal na linya sa partikular na isyu. Tapos, ikakalat ‘yon sa pamamagitan ng e-mail. conference calls at briefings para sa Cabinet, ambassadors, kaibigan sa Kongreso, media at civil society. Kung may lumihis sa linya, sinisibak o sinasabon ni Bush. Gusto niya ayos palagi lahat para sa kampanya.

Dito sa Pinas, pinupuna ni Sen. Miriam Santiago ang mga kapwa pulitiko na lumalabas na endorsers sa product ads. Isang paraan ito ng premature campaigning aniya, dahil ipinapaskel ang mga mukha ng pulitiko sa billboards, TV at pahayagan. Paglabag daw ito sa Omnibus Election Code, kaya hiningan niya ng opinyon ang Comelec.

Aba’y hindi pa nakakasagot ang commissioners, bigla nang sumabat ang Comelec spokesman. Inopinyon niya na walang paglabag ang mga pulitikong product endorsers kung hindi pa sila nagpa-file ng certificate of candidacy. Kapag may certificate na pero nangampanya miski hindi pa nagsisimula ang campaign period, saka lang daw maaring kasuhan.

Makitid na pananaw ‘yun. Sinabi na nga ni Santiago na takpan sana ng Comelec ang loophole sa batas. Kaya lang humaharang si spokesman.

Meralco squabble relives earlier Lopez-Arroyo clash

GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc, The Philippine Star, Monday, June 2, 2008

The Malacañang-Meralco tiff looks more like a fight between the Arroyo and Lopez families. Gloria Arroyo drew first blood in blaming the Lopezes, instead of her mulcting Napocor appointees, for costly electricity. Lopez spokesmen countered that the Arroyos were squeezing Meralco to get back at their other controlled firm, critical media giant ABS-CBN. Full-blown war then escalated in the courtroom, boardroom and newsroom.

Eight decades ago in 1929 a similar battle raged between the Lopezes and Arroyos. Setting: Iloilo, the fastest rising city in the Visayas. Self-rule was top issue nationwide. A National Assembly of Filipino legislators had just convened in Manila under Senate President Manuel Quezon, of Partido Nacionalista. New technologies were spurring changes in traditional sugar regions. Among the young entrepreneurs caught up in the modernization tide was Eugenio “Eñing” Lopez, 28.

Iloilo, as all other cities, had a seamy side. A Chinese mestizo named Luis Sañe, alias Sualoy, operated jueteng with impunity. Bribes to civilian and police officials exempted him from law enforcement. It so happened that Eñing was then reviving his late father Benito’s Spanish-language newspaper El Tiempo. Immediately in Sept. 1929 the paper launched a crusade against vice that corrupted the Iloilo government. The jueteng winning numbers were published each day on the front page, playing up official inaction. Personally leading the fight, Eñing came out with one exposé after another, pointing to the highest officials as Sualoy’s protectors. “Eñing did not choose lightweight opponents,” Raul Rodrigo recounts in the book, Phoenix: the Saga of the Lopez Family. They were no less than Governor Mariano Pidal Arroyo, city police chief Marcelo Buenaflor, and congressman-brother Tomas Buenaflor.

Writes Rodrigo: “Marcelo Arroyo was the most powerful man in the province. He was the brother of the late Jose Arroyo, a Nacionalista senator and good friend of Quezon. As the public’s outrage over the corruption began to mount, Arroyo issued a statement saying that jueteng did not exist in Iloilo. That it did and that local officials benefited from it were matters of public knowledge in the city. The question was not what needed to be done, but who had the courage to do it. It turned out, Eñing Lopez did.”

El Tiempo stepped up the pressure. National authorities began to take notice. In Mar. 1930 the Constabulary stormed Sualoy’s vice den, finding enough evidence to jail and eventually deport him to China. The fight narrowed down to Eñing and Arroyo. As El Tiempo became a hot seller, tension gripped Iloilo. A thug known to be close to the governor beat up the editor-in-chief. Arroyo sued for libel; Eñing in turn filed administrative charges. The Lopez clan worried that local violence that abruptly ended his father’s life might befall Eñing too.

Rodrigo continues: “Fortunately, news of the case reached Manila and attracted the attention of Governor General Dwight F. Davis. Governor Arroyo and his cohorts came under minute scrutiny. As a result of the scandals, the Nacionalistas and Quezon began backing away from Arroyo. When Arroyo asked Quezon to recommend to Davis that he be acquitted of the administrative charges, Quezon refused. Instead, Davis swiftly dispatched Judge Manuel Moran (later chief justice of the Supreme Court) to investigate the libel case. After a series of hearings, Moran established that Arroyo and police chief Buenaflor were in fact heavily involved in illegal gambling. They even ran a gambling den as a means of generating money for the upcoming 1931 elections. Moran concluded that Eñing and El Tiempo had not been guilty of libel.”

More evidence of sleaze turned up in Arroyo’s administrative trial. A compadre testified that the governor coddled jueteng runners not only for bribes but also as political ward leaders. In Oct. 1930 Davis sacked Arroyo for corruption.

It is said that the disgraced political family quietly moved to Negros Occidental. Joining them was Jesusa Lacson Arroyo, widow of Senator Jose Pidal Arroyo, the fallen governor’s brother. One of Jesusa’s sons, Ignacio, became the father of First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” and Rep. Ignacio Jr. “Iggy. Mike would in turn sire Reps. Juan Miguel “Mikey” and Diosdado “Dato”.

Eñing would later establish the newspaper Chronicle and broadcaster ABS-CBN, and buy out the Americans from Meralco. The fruit does not fall far from the tree. Eñing’s sons, first Eugenio Jr. and then Oscar, would lead the family holdings company. Third son Manuel would chair Meralco.

Mike and Mikey would themselves be linked to jueteng payola. Exposed for owning a secret bank account under alias “Jose Pidal”, Mike would deny knowing anybody with such name, but Iggy would own up to it. Gloria Arroyo would then claim it as her excess campaign contributions.

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E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com

E-jeepney sagot sa mahal na gas

SAPOL Ni Jarius Bondoc, Pilipino Star Ngayon, Monday, June 2, 2008

SUBOK na ito sa Makati, Baguio, Puerto Princesa at Ba­ colod: E-jeepney (electric jeepney) ang sagot sa nagma­mahalang gasolina at lubricants. Malinis pa ang hangin.

Disenyong Pinoy pero gawa sa Tsina ang e-jeepney. Imbis diesel o gasolina, umaandar ito sa pamamagitan ng rechargeable battery. Ipa-plug lang ang baterya sa charger na de-kuryente, tapos puwede na pumasada. Tahimik ang makinang de-baterya. At dahil walang sinusunog na langis, wala ring usok at nakalalason na emissions ang e-jeepney.

Nu’ng Abril hanggang Oktubre 2007, nag-assemble ng ilang e-jeepneys para i-test run sa apat na nabanggit na lungsod. Ang sasakyang “animan” — ibig sabihin, anim na pasahero sa bawat upuan sa likod, at tatlo sa harap, o kabuoang 15 — ay kayang umarangkada nang hanggang 40 kph. Tamang-tama ito para sa mga purok na masikip ang trapik.

Sa isang charge lang ng baterya, na inaabot nang walong oras sa magdamag, kayang tumakbo ng e-jeepney nang 100-120 km. Kung pamilyar kayo sa ka­ raniwang ruta sa siyudad na limang kilometro, maku­kuwenta niyo ang efficiency. Makakailang biyahe ang e-jeepney sa halaga lang ng P110-P140 kada charge, hindi libo-libong piso na halaga ng imported diesel.

Panukala ni Sen. Pia Cayetano na puhunanan ng mga city hall ang pagpapakalat ng e-jeepneys. Sila na mismo ang umorder sa assembler, tapos ibenta sa mga jeepney cooperatives nang installment. Natuwa nga siya sa pasya ng Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturers Association of the Philippines na makiisa sa Green Renewable Independent Power Producer para bumuo agad ng 45 e-jeepneys.

Sa huli, makakatipid ang city halls sa gastusing pag­papagamot ng mga mamamayan. Isa sa bawat pumapa­sadang tsuper, at karamihan ng malimit magbiyaheng estudyante o empleyado ay ubuhin o may sakit sa baga dahil sa vehicle emissions. Pero kung lilinis na ang hangin dahil de-baterya na imbis na de-gasolina ang jeepneys, ligtas na sila.