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A local company servicing vehicles using liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG) is set to import by year’s end buses from
China that can run on cooking gas.
The Philippine firm, the AutoLPG
Co., will import 200 LPG buses from King Long in China.
Mario Tan, AutoLPG president and
chief executive officer, said his company has created the Philippine
LPG Bus and Taxi Co., Inc. to handle the importation of the Chinese
buses.
The project is estimated to cost
about P500 million, and the company will initially roll out with 10
trial buses to be delivered by September, Tan said on the sidelines
of a recent press conference organized by Liquigaz Philippines Corp.
and its business partners. The remaining buses will be delivered
once the company completes tests on the trial units.
He revealed his company has
secured loans from banks to fund the project. In addition, King Long
has offered a financing scheme that allows Auto LPG to shoulder only
10 percent of the LPG buses’ cost with the balance payable in five
years.
Tan disclosed the project has
been granted incentives by the Board of Investments. As a pioneering
project, it enjoys zero import taxes.
Emmanuel A. Atienza, AutoLPG
Company, Inc. executive vice-president, said the project “is in
support of the government’s initiative to improve living
conditions by reducing pollution.”
The company plans to tap Liquigaz,
the second largest supplier of LPG in the country, for the LPG needs
of the buses.
Liquigaz is a wholly owned
subsidiary of Holland-based SHV Group, the world’s largest LPG
supply and distribution company. The company recently acquired the
commercial and industrial LPG business of Chevron Philippines.
He said the buses will initially
ply the Circumferential Road 5 (C5), originating from a terminal in
Novaliches in Quezon City.
Meanwhile, Liquigaz forged an
alliance with NAIADSS Corp., Sea Oil Philippines Inc., Eastern
Petroleum Corp., AutoLPG Co., Unioil Petroleum Philippines Inc., and
Dura Lo Gas Inc. in an effort to push forward the use of auto LPG in
the country.
“With this alliance, both the
industry and the environment stand to gain. We are creating a
network of strategically-located stations that offer ample options
to fill tanks in Metro Manila, while at the same time promoting the
use of clean fuel.” Patrick Libihoul, Liquigaz president, said.
The group now comprises the
biggest network of auto LPG retailers, which supply more than half
of the total demand for auto LPG in the country.
--Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo
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