UEMI in Philippines

The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an archipelagic country located in Southeast Asia. It consists of 7,641 islands located in the western Pacific Ocean, comprising approximately 300,000 square kilometres in total. 61% of this total mass is comprised of inland bodies of water, and the Philippines shares only maritime borders with surrounding countries: Taiwan to the north, Vietnam to the west, Palau to the east and Malaysia and Indonesia to the south.

As of 2015, the Philippines has a population of over 100 million people, rendering it the 12th most populated country in the world. The country’s population increased by approximately 28 million between 1990 to 2008, marking a growth rate of 45%. Due to the country’s proximity to the equator and its location within the so-called “Pacific Ring of Fire,” the Philippines is vulnerable to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and typhoons. Most of the country’s islands experience torrential rainfall thunderstorms from July to October. In the past decades, the Philippines has seen an increase in the severity and frequency of its yearly typhoons, which have killed or displaced large numbers of Filipinos while costing the country billions of dollars in damages. According to the 2013 long-term Climate Risk Index (CRI), the Philippines is identified as the country most affected by climate change.

The most populated region in the Philippines is Region IV, Calabarzon (boasting 14.27% of the country’s total population); the most densely populated is Metropolitan Manila, also known as the National Capital Region (with a population density of 21,000 people per square kilometer). The City of Pasig is located along the eastern border of Metro Manila, where the seat of government is located. Named for the Pasig River, Pasig boasts a population of 755,300 people as of 2015 and is bordered by Quezon City and Mandaluyong to the west, Marikina to the north, Makati to the south, and the province of Rizal to the east. Pasig is primarily a residential and industrial area, having formerly been a rural settlement; the city has become increasingly industrialized, particularly following the construction of the Ortigas Center business district.

The Republic of the Philippines is committed to addressing climate adaptation and mitigation. The country submitted its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, following the Climate Change Law of 2009 (amended in 2012), in accordance with Decisions 1/CP.19 and 1/CP.20 of the Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In order to protect strategically important sectors that are vulnerable to the effects of climate change – including agriculture, fisheries, and water resource management – the Philippines focuses on coordinating government agencies under the Cabinet Cluster on Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation (CCAM). The People’s Survival Fund was also introduced in order to allocate financing for local communities and local governments. In 2010, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Law was enacted, which along with the National Framework Strategy on Climate Change (NFSCC) serves as a guide for addressing climate change in the Philippines. Protections for the Philippines’s diverse ecosystems, including forests and marine resources, are stipulated under the Philippine National REDD Plus Strategy and the Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. According to the “business as usual” (BAU) scenario of 2000-2030, the Philippines intends to reduce GHG (CO2e) emissions by about 70% before 2030, in the transport, waste, energy, and forestry sectors.

Shared Use of E-cargo Quadricycles

The demonstration in Pasig will focus on integrated and shared urban logistics solutions, as well as investigate the potential for public charging solutions. The activities on-the-ground will also include those that aim at improving the enabling conditions for e-mobility, and enhancing local capacities related to e-mobility. The quadricycle will also be designed to have a base that can carry different types of cargo, and can be utilized to fit a cargo box that can be transferred into other, larger vehicles.

The SOL+ project will support local SME/s that will be selected to design and produce the quadricycle/s. The design process will take into consideration the needs of the primary intended users, and will utilize a combination of European (e.g. Valeo motor), regional, and local components. The vehicles will also be equipped with appropriate sensors that can provide vital information needed for assessing the performance of the vehicles (e.g. for recording geo-spatial information, battery and motor performance, among others). Digital solutions that would help the fleet owner (e.g. PHLPost) will be developed as well.

E-mobility for last-mile connectivity in Pasig

The administrative divisions of the Philippines are based on the country’s three island groups: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. These three groups are subdivided into 16 interdependent regions and 1 autonomous region; 81 provinces; 145 cities; 1,489 municipalities; and 42,036 barangays (the native Filipino word for “village”). Most government offices are regional, not provincial.

Following its independence from United States rule in 1946, the Philippines became a founding member of the United Nations. The Philippines is also a founding member and active participant in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). In its postcolonial period, the economy and political stability of the Philippines has been shaken by natural disasters, the 1997 Asian financial crisis, corruption and coup attempts. Between 2001 and 2010, under the administration of president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the country experienced rapid economic growth, saw the completion of infrastructure projects like the Manila Light Rail, and avoided the Great Recession. Current president Rodrigo Duerte, who has held office since winning the 2016 presidential elections, has launched a “Build, Build, Build” program to increase jobs and public infrastructure. The Philippines is expected to spend $160 - $180 billion by 2022 on the “Build, Build, Build” program, which comprises 75 projects. Of these, the Philippines is introducing 6 air, 12 rail, and 4 water transport projects. The infrastructure development program also includes 4 flood management, 11 water supply and irrigation, and 4 power projects. While WHO and UNICEF have proclaimed that the Philippines has made “good progress” in water supply and sanitation,[1] the country faces challenges including limited access to sanitation services, pollution of water resources and poor drinking quality, and fragmentation of national agencies as well as local service providers.

The Office of the President is responsible for implementing the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions in the Philippines. The GIZ in Germany participates with the Philippines in developing the multi-sector INDC, and the National Adaptation Programmes of Action is in place with the EU. Australia and the US have also served as development partners with the Philippines. The INDC intends to include the private sector.

[1] “Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP)” (2015). 25 Years Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water – 2015 Update and MDG Assessment. UNICEF and World Health Organization Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP), New York and Geneva, p. 68.

The International Energy Agency (IEA, 2018) estimates that 103 million tons of Carbon dioxide (CO2) was emitted by fossil combustion-related activities in the Philippines. Thirty percent (30%) of the CO2e emissions was contributed by the transportation sector, with road transportation contributing 85% of the sector’s emissions (25% of the national total). Road transportation has also been implicated as the priority source of air pollutant emissions by the national air pollutant emissions inventory by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) which estimates that road vehicles emit 65% of the emissions load (DENR, 2017).

Vehicle motorization in the country has primarily been driven by motorcycle growth in the recent decade. Between 2004 and 2017, the registered vehicle fleet in the country has grown at an annual rate of 15%, with motorcycles growing at an astounding 18% per annum, with the total registered motorcycles tripling in size within the period – 1.8 million to 6.1 million (see Figure 2). Such growth can potentially be explained by increased access (driven by economic growth and availability of financial schemes that require low down payment) to motorcycles, and also perhaps due to the state of congestion in many of the major urban agglomerations in the country. Recent analyses have pointed to Metro Manila as having one of the worst congestion in the world, and Cebu being the worst place in the world to drive in (Waze, 2015; Numbeo, 2019).The use of motorcycles in such heavily congested areas can be seen as the fastest, and most practical means of travel. Rapid motorization, coupled with the lack of alternative transportation choices, then lead to significant negative impacts related to motorized traffic congestion. soon to come

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) registration data shows that the on-road electric vehicle fleet in the country is primarily dominated by electric tricycles (three-wheelers) and electric motorcycles (see Figure 3).[1]Historical documentation of the growth in registered e-vehicles is not yet available as the rules regarding the registration of e-vehicles have varied over the years. LTO is yet to announce, for example, the adopted rules for registering e-motorcycles. These issues are related to the fact that the underlying national laws still pertain to vehicles as those having internal combustion engines. MMC et al.(forthcoming) has documented 15 models of e-jeepneys, 21 models of e-tricycles, 11 models of electric cars, and 61 models of other two to quadricycle models available in the Philippine market.

E-mobility has been slow in picking up in the country. In 2014, the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP) forecasted that the e-vehicle fleet in the country would be at approximately 54,000. As seen in the registration figures, the actual registrations have been far off these projections. Multiple significant barriers (i.e. high acquisition costs, limited charging infrastructure, lack of social and technical familiarity, registration issues, lack of financial incentives) have contributed to such a slow uptake (MMC et al., forthcoming). There have been e-jeepney pilot projects in the past in several major cities (e.g. Makati, Pasig), as well as pilots involving e-tricycles. The most recent one, the ADB-DOE project, is discussed in Section 2.E. However, no significant levels of roll-out have been achieved to date.

The Philippine Board of Investments state that there are 28 firms that are engaged in the manufacturing of e-vehicles in the country, and 11 companies that are involved in e-vehicle parts and components. There are also 7 registered importers (BOI, 2018).

[1] Pedelecs are not reflected in the data. UV’s are utility vehicles which include the e-jeepneys.