Councilor Pilar Braga and other members of the Davao City Council are asking for the Mayor, Rodrigo Duterte, to push for an Alternative Energy Vehicle Policy for the City. She pointed to escalating costs of fossil fuels, global warming and the fact that other cities in the Philippines are already pushing their own alternative energy vehicle agendas as the reason for the need of this policy.
She said:
There is too much emission of carbon monoxide that is harming the earth’s climate and affecting life cycle of men, animals and plants, thus there is a need to minimize, if not totally eradicate, pollution coming from fossil fuel.[source]
Compared to the price of fuel in the Nation’s capital of Manila, Davao usually has a +P1 on the pump price due to the distance that the fuel has to travel.
In my neck of the woods, my family and I are strictly enforcing the 1 time a week only use of our family car so as to limit our gasoline consumption.
The one thing good about Davao City though is the proximity of everything. If you live within the city, it will take you usually about 15 minutes to get to where you want to go. It’s not like in the Nation’s Capital where getting to one place could take you anywhere between 15 minutes to 2 hours. Hours is what you have to factor in when travelling in Luzon.
Now that is something that the citizens of Davao can take advantage of. Instead of taking public transportation, one can walk instead or ride a bicycle.
Of course what is lacking in the city are bike lanes. So what happens is that you often see people on bicycles occupying the inner lane or fast lane of the road. That’s a dangerous thing, bicycles and cars jockeying for position.
Also playing in my mind before was the possibility of letting horse drawn carriages on the streets of Davao. I mean, if they are still doing it today in the Binondo district of Manila, then why not for the city of Davao?
Compared to Manila, Davao is teeming with foliage to feed the horses. Davao has cleaner air than Manila so you wouldn’t have to worry as much on the horses choking on car exhaust. Not to mention our proximity to Central Mindanao, where most horses are raised, means that there is an abundant supply to get from.
Of course the thing I’m worrying about for the horses is the heat of the city. Davao Climate makes for almost ample sunshine which could make heat stroke in horses a normal occurrence.
Until the 100 MPG car comes along, we earthlings really have to start thinking of other ways to conserve and lower our gas bill.
Category: Automotive
