ILOILO City – Some 1,000 units of environment-friendly electric tricycles or e-trikes would be given free to around the same number of drivers that would be displaced by the phaseout of tricycles in Boracay Island.
The e-trikes would come from the Department of Energy (DOE), according to Director Richard Osmeña of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Region 6.
When Boracay reopens on Oct. 26 after six months of rehabilitation, the mode of transport in the world-famous resort island would no longer be the noisy, smoke-belching tricycles, he stressed.
Executive Order No. 007-2018 issued by Mayor Ciceron Cawaling of Malay, Aklan which has jurisdiction over Boracay tasked the Malay Transportation Office to enforce a gradual phase out of gasoline-fueled tricycles.
The e-trikes would reduce air and noise pollution in Boracay, said Osmeña.
This week DOE would deliver an initial 50 e-trikes to the island. Osmeña would go there to check them.
There would be a dry run on the use of e-trikes as main mode of transport in Boracay a week before the island reopens, said Osmeña.
The DOE e-trikes have two rechargeable batteries and could accommodate a maximum of eight passengers, according to the director.
What would happen to the gasoline-fed tricycles?
Osmeña said they would be moved to the mainland, specifically in Barangay Caticlan, the jump-off point to Boracay. They could still be used there, he stressed.
The director also hinted at the possibility of electric jeepneys being allowed to operate on the island.
“Kun ikaw guest sang Boracay, mabakal ka lang bracelet. You can use it for three days to one week in going around the island without having to spend for fare within such period,” said Osmeña./PN
