In a bid to turn Quezon City into an environmental-friendly one, Mayor Joy Belmonte turned over 15 electronic tricycles (e-trikes) to qualified beneficiaries in Barangay Sacred Heart.

Belmonte expressed optimism that e-trike use will start a trend and encourage different tricycle organizations to embrace the use of this latest technology.

The Department of Energy, under the leadership of Secretary Alfonso Cusi, donated 300 e-trikes to the city to promote energy efficiency and clean technologies in the transport sector.

The mayor, together with officials of the Department of Public Order and Safety-Green Transport, handed the vehicles to Sacred Heart Barangay Chairwoman Camille Malig David in a simple ceremony.

She said several barangays in the Tomas Morato area, a known tourist destination, have agreed to serve as pilot areas for the e-trikes. The other vehicles will be distributed to other barangays in the coming days.

“I think this is the perfect place to pilot this because people come here. It’s a tourist destination and we want to show that we are beginning to adopt green and renewable energy,” Belmonte explained.

She shared there are plans to come up with a scheme where the city can entice tricycle drivers to give up their gasoline-powered units and switch to the more environment-friendly ones. This will include maintenance, fleet management, charging stations and other incentives to make e-trikes more sustainable for tricycle drivers.

Likewise, in the event the vehicle’s battery needs to be replaced, the city government will give a subsidy for its replacement.