Wuling + Hail

 Air queen advocates for clean-energy transportation

By Earl D.C. Bracamonte 

A few pageant platforms - like the Miss Eco International and Miss Earth - espouse environmental concerns, with their queens acting as stewards and/or warriors for Mother Nature.

One such queen is Feliz Claireanne Recentes, reigning Miss Philippines Air from Mindanao. "It is very important that we choose our vehicles or the transportations we use to travel because these have an impact on the air we breathe. We must therefore patronize vehicles that are right, as well as choose rides that are green," she enthused, during a clean-energy colloquium held in Bridgetown, Quezon City.

Another beauty queen who uses clean energy cars is Miss Universe 2011 3rd runner-up Shamcey Supsup, who has been driving electric-powered cars with hubby, Lloyd Lee,  for the past two years now. She attests that it's not only from gas consumption that you save but also on vehicle maintenance. "What you save on a full tank fuel price is enough to pay for your monthly amortization. You're not only using clean energy, you also help people breathe cleaner air."

"Our family lives a few floors higher so we saw the clean air space during the pandemic. There was no smog and you can clearly see for many miles away," said Lloyd Lee, who, together with wife Shamcey are the purveyors of clean-energy vehicles in the country. They introduced the Wuling electric-powered vehicles to the Philippine market and has partnered with cab hailing service, Hail, to run its fleet of electric cars.

"We have also partnered with Robinsons Land wherein we will install car charging stations in all its malls and properties all over the Philippines. It's just like charging your cellphones," Lloyd added.

Today, Grab has been slowly changing its taxi fleet to electric cars. Other ride hailing platforms like Hail and Green GSM are using an entire fleet of electric vehicles for their taxis.

The Philippines is ranked 5th in Southeast Asia and 35th globally in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Under the Paris Agreement, the Philippines aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which includes methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), by 75% by 2030.