MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 22, 2012) – The celebrated electric jeepney received the top award Friday of sustainability jurors once more, this time from a country-wide contest dubbed the Inclusive Mobility Challenge.
“This is foremost an award to all eJeepney commuters and drivers who through their patronage prove each day the commercial and technical viability of our initiative,” Yuri Sarmiento, chief executive officer of Ejeepney Transport Corporation, said in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
Sarmiento received the grand prize with Reina Garcia, program head of EJTC’s partner Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities or iCSC.
The pioneering eJeepneys first captured national and international attention when it was launched by iCSC in 2007. The iconic, emission-free public utility vehicle received the main prize for transport solutions in 2008 in a global contest run by the Ecopolis Program of Discovery Channel.
Funded by Stichting Doen, an Amsterdam-based foundation, iCSC was awarded the prestigious Fr. Neri Satur Award for Environmental Heroism in 2009 for its work on sustainable transport.
“Since its launching five years ago, the eJeepneys have been driven by the very criteria used by Inclusive Mobility to assess its contestants. Green innovation is at the heart of our work together with social entrepreneurship. We are excited to receive the award,” Sarmiento said.
Sarmiento in his acceptance speech also announced that a national commercial bank is set to open the country’s first lending facility for electric vehicles in the next couple of months.
The Ateneo School of Government and Rockefeller Foundation teamed up to run the Innovation at the Base of the Pyramid in Southeast Asia Program, which is implementing the Inclusive Mobility Project. The contest was launched in June, with a broad public call inviting nominations and applications to the competition. The contest evaluated participants largely through the yardsticks of social innovation, sustainability, replicability, scalability and evidence of successes.
“All of us dream of a Metro Manila where people, including the poor, the children, the elderly, and PWDs, can get around in comfort and with dignity,” said Dr. Marie Danielle V. Guillen, manager of the Inclusive Mobility project. “The innovation energy shown by the Challenge winners gives us a lot of hope. It reassures us that ingenious Filipinos and their groups are already working hard to make that dream a reality.”
The second and third prizes were awarded to Bikes for the Philippines, a project that gives bikes to help students stay in school, and the Wheelmobile initiative which provides transportation for under-privileged persons with disabilities.
“It is not enough to share common goals with the private sector. We must attain sustainable development objectives together. This is a green win for everyone,” Reina Garcia said.
iCSC is a Philippine-based non-profit organization working on sustainable energy solutions and fair climate policy. It is the pioneer of the electric jeepneys project, which represents a third of the ground-breaking Climate-Friendly Cities initiative.
The awarding ceremonies for the competition were led by organizers from the Ateneo School of Government, Rockefeller Foundation and the Metro Manila Development Authority.
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