Pres. Arroyo to witness signing in China
Five Bus Operators Signs Purchase Contracts for CNG Buses with Cummins Westport and Chinese Bus Manufacturers

Give way to clean compressed natural gas (CNG) buses.

CNG buses will soon be plying the major thoroughfares in Luzon as five local bus companies signed today an agreement with Chinese bus manufacturers Anhui Ankai Automobile and Zhengzhou Yutong Company. Cummins Westport Inc. of the United States will provide the engines of the buses.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Energy Secretary Vincent S. Perez witnessed the contract signing for the acquisition of 140 CNG buses held at Kerry Center Hotel in Beijing, China as part of President Arroyo’s three-day State Visit in China.

The five local bus companies that will purchase CNG buses are First CNG, Inc.; Greenstar Express; HM Transport; NGV AdBus Corp.; and RRCG Transport Systems Co., Inc.

The signing of the purchase contracts is an offshoot of the visit made by the bus operators last July to inspect NGV facilities and manufacturers in various places in China.

Secretary Perez said the buses are expected to arrive early next year and to immediately service the riding public.

The energy chief expressed thanks to the local bus companies for heeding the call of the Philippine National Government to win the battle against air pollution and accelerate the benefits of clean air by using natural gas as an alternative fuel for public transport.

"This is just the first batch of CNG buses that we will be seeing in our major roads. Clean and efficient buses that will improve the quality of our air," he said.

In launching her five-point energy independence and savings reform agenda last August, President Arroyo said that about 60 percent of the targeted 1,500 buses will already be running on CNG by 2010.

The use of natural gas as an alternative fuel forms part of President Arroyo’s five-point energy independence and savings reform agenda she launched last August. She said increasing the use of alternative fuels will significantly reduce the Philippines’ dependence on oil imports.

Secretary Perez also thanked the CNG bus manufacturers for providing well-performing CNG buses at attractive prices. A non air-conditioned original equipment manufacture (OEM) CNG bus costs about US$50,000 and US$70,000 for an air-conditioned OEM CNG bus.

"China’s downstream natural gas industry has fully matured as most of its vehicles have now been converted to CNG. Any cooperation between the Philippines and China will benefit the Philippines to developing our own assembly or manufacturing plants of efficient and economical CNG buses and parts," he said.

President Arroyo has aggressively pushed for the use of CNG as alternative fuel by launching the Natural Gas Vehicle Program for Public Transport (NGVPPT) in October 2001 to enhance energy supply security in the transport sector by using natural gas as alternative fuel.

President Arroyo approved a number of policy initiatives to encourage private sector participation. The package includes income tax holiday for pioneering projects; 1% rate of duty on imported NGV industry related equipment, facilities, parts and components; preferential and exclusive franchises from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) for NGVs on newly opened routes; among others.

The Philippine government was also able to negotiate with the Malampaya consortium (operator of the Malampaya natural gas project) for a very attractive and competitive CNG price of about 50 percent discount to the current diesel price.

 p Top

A PUBLIC SERVICE OF EXCALIBURCNG HAULING, STORAGE & DISTRIBUTION, INC.