PBBM inspects Bataan Green Mobility Hub

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. inspected the Green Mobility Hub in Barangay Cabog-Cabog, Balanga, Bataan on Thursday, pitching the facility as a model for modern, eco-friendly public transportation across the country.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) led the project, backed by a P100-million budget covering a 5,700-square-meter site. The facility features a solar-powered electric vehicle charging system equipped with four 60-kilowatt chargers, 222 solar panels, and a battery energy storage system with a 430-kilowatt-hour capacity.

Marcos directed that the Balanga hub serve as a standard for other regions to encourage public transport operators to transition from fuel-powered units to electric vehicles.

Bataan has emerged as a frontrunner in green mobility under local initiatives championed by Governor Joet Garcia, a principal author of the national Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act.

Programs in the province include the Bataan E-Mobility Program, free electric bus rides for students, and a rent-to-own initiative aimed at converting more than 27,000 local tricycles to electric motors.

Later on Thursday, Marcos traveled to Pampanga to open the new United Parcel Service Inc. International Air Hub at Clark International Airport.

The $80-million facility spans 30,000 square meters — roughly 15 times larger than UPS’s previous Clark facility — and is designed to process up to 15,000 packages per hour with an average daily volume of 46,000 packages.

“The UPS International Air Hub is an important milestone in strengthening our country’s logistics network,” Marcos said during the opening ceremony, noting that the expansion has created nearly 600 local jobs.

However, the President acknowledged ongoing hurdles in the domestic supply chain, pointing out that logistics costs account for up to 27 percent of sales — among the highest in Southeast Asia — driven by congested ports, inadequate roads, and insufficient cold-chain facilities.

“To address these challenges, and better connect agricultural production areas to ports and businesses, the DPWH and the Department of Transportation are working to improve our roads, bridges and transport systems,” he said.

The new air hub will support 170 weekly flight segments to and from Clark, offering expedited shipping connections to major markets in the Asia-Pacific region, India, Europe and the United States.

Equipped with automated sorting systems, temperature-controlled zones, and RFID tracking technology, the facility aims to support time-sensitive shipments in the healthcare, high-tech, and manufacturing sectors.