Palace:
Public transport's shift to compress natural gas will
benefit economy and environment
MEDIA
RELEASE
June
3, 2004
Malacañang
said today that converting public utility vehicles (PUVs)
to use compress natural gas (CNG) instead of the regular
fuel would provide the country with economic and
environmental benefits.
In
a radio interview this morning, Presidential Spokesman
Ignacio Bunye said that the government measures designed
to deal with increasing oil prices include the search
for new alternative fuel and for nearer oil sources.
Bunye also said that gas companies have added 25 gas
stations to the list of outlets selling diesel at a
discount to PUV operators and drivers in Metro Manila
and the nearby provinces.
According
to Bunye, the Department of Energy (DOE) is now
negotiating with Indonesia and Malaysia, two oil
producers in Southeast Asia, to increase their oil
supplies to the Philippines. The traditional oil sources
of the country are Muslim countries in the Middle East.
On
the search for alternative fuel, he said that DOE, in
cooperation with the Department of Transportation and
Communications (DOTC), has been experimenting on the use
by three buses of compress natural gas pumped out of the
Malampaya gas field off Palawan.
*Mukhang OK ang performance ng ating experimental buses
at talagang mababa ang presyo, practically one-half of
the price of the imported diesel ang presyo ng CNG (The
performance of our experimental buses looks OK, and CNG
is cheap, its price is about half the price of imported
diesel)," he said.
Noting that CNG is locally available, Bunye stressed the
need for persuading the public transport sector to
convert PUVs from regular fuel to compress natural gas.
"Actually, they will have to buy the whole unit
that uses compress natural gas," he said.
"Makakasiguro tayo over the long run ay dalawa ang
ating advantages dito. Unang-una, cleaner air; pangalawa,
mas murang ginagamit na fuel. Ang suma total nito ay
malaking bentahe para sa ating lahat kung makapag-convert
ang ating public transport to compress natural gas (In
the long term, we’ll enjoy two advantages – cleaner
air and cheaper fuel. We’ll all benefit when the
public transport converts to compress natural gas,"
he said.
In
a radio interview this morning, Presidential Spokesman
Ignacio Bunye said that the government measures designed
to deal with increasing oil prices include the search
for new alternative fuel and for nearer oil sources.
According
to Bunye, the Department of Energy (DOE) is now
negotiating with Indonesia and Malaysia, two oil
producers in Southeast Asia, to increase their oil
supplies to the Philippines. The traditional oil sources
of the country are Muslim countries in the Middle East.
On
the search for alternative fuel, he said that DOE, in
cooperation with the Department of Transportation and
Communications (DOTC), has been experimenting on the use
by three buses of compress natural gas pumped out of the
Malampaya gas field off Palawan.