Makati beefs up vehicle fleet with Ioniq 5
PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF HMPH PRESENT during the turnover ceremony were (from left): Roswell Bonifacio, Hyundai Pasig president; Cecil Capacete, Hyundai Motor Philippines managing director; Dong Wook Lee, Hyundai Motor Philippines president; Ambassador Lee Sang Hwa of the Republic of Korea; Dong Wook Kim, Hyundai Motor Group EVP of Strategy Planning Division, Makati Mayor Abby Binay; Rep. Luis Campos of the Second District of Makati; Makati Vice Mayor Nik Lagdameo; Rep. Kid Peña of the First District of Makati; Atty. Claro Certeza, Makati City administrator; and Atty. Michael Camiña head of Makati City’s Law and Public Safety Departments.
At last year's Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, the city of Makati was chosen as one of the six finalists for the World Smart Cities Awards.
The award, which acknowledges leading urban innovation projects from around the world, was won by Curitiba in Brazil. Despite the loss, it was a proud moment for Makati since being the lone finalist from the Asia-Pacific region was already like winning the prestigious award.
The other finalists were Sunderland in the United Kingdom; Cascais in Portugal; Barranquilla in Colombia; and Izmir in Turkey.
What was also remarkable was the fact that these finalists were chosen from a record-breaking 411 entries sent in by 63 countries.
For Makati, its inclusion among the finalists was a culmination of undertakings that date back to 2016, when Mayor Mar-len Abigail "Abby" Binay vowed to turn Makati into a model city built upon sustainable and resilient communities.
Several initiatives and partnerships in support of this have been formed since then, including that with Cisco, to accelerate and support digitization, and with the Korea International Cooperation Agency Philippines to establish and construct a public transport information and communications technology system and bus service.
When Makati needed to update its public safety fleet, it was no longer surprising that it chose to acquire Hyundai's Ioniq 5 pure electric SUV, which was voted by distinguished automotive journalists from around the world as the 2022 World Car of the Year, 2022 World Electric Vehicle of the Year, and 2022 World Car Design of the Year.
MAKATI Mayor Abby Binay tries charging the Ioniq 5. Joining her were (from left) Makati Second District Rep. Luis Campos, Korean Ambassador Sang Hwa Lee, Makati Vice Mayor Nik Lagdameo, HMPH president Dong Wook Lee, Makati First District Rep. Kid Peña, and Hyundai Motor Group EVP of Strategy Planning Division Dong Wook Kim.