The jeepney should be an icon—in our history

Coming from humble beginnings I have never been anti-poor. I commiserate with the plight of jeepney drivers, whose ranks may be temporarily reduced, although probably not considerably, by the implementation of the Jeepney Modernization project.

A temporary lessening of their numbers is indeed one side of the coin. But what’s the other side?

If, and I say if, the planned modernization would really be implemented by the government as planned, together with the poised scrapping of the decades-old labor malpractice known as ‘boundary system,’ not only would commuters face the prospect of newer, more reliable, safer, more comfortable and environment-friendly public carriages, the drivers would themselves benefit from the same attributes plus the added bonus of a more dignified and more profitable employee status—a win, win situation for driver and commuters, except probably for the greedy operators.     

There would always be some form of sacrifice in the name of progress or improvement. The problem is less and less are willing to do so for the common good. In this situation the most who would have to bear the initial burden would be the operators. But they number a lot fewer compared to the multitudes of commuters and drivers.

Pwede kaya? Para sa Bansa!                                                       

Audi Q2—the “untaggable” gets unveiled

Audi Philippines launched to the motoring media last week, the newest member of the Q family—the new Q2.

Tagged as the most compact crossover of the Ingolstadt-based premium automaker, the Q2’s stated impressive credentials include a top speed of 197 km/hr with an acceleration of 10.1 seconds from 0-100 km/hr.

The vaunted sporty performance comes from an inline 1.0-liter three-cylinder spark-ignition engine that reaches 116 hp and 200 Nm of torque. It is with gasoline direct injection, exhaust turbocharged with indirect intercooler, four valves per cylinder, double overhead camshaft (DOHC).  

“Audi is venturing into a new market segment with the new Audi Q2, bringing top technologies into the smallest member of the Q family. Whether it is used for an off-road adventure or for everyday driving in the city, the Q2 is the all-round vehicle, with the youthful and provocative design and high-tech equipment,” remarked Audi Philippines head Benedicto Coyiuto during the luncheon launch last July 19 at its EDSA showroom.

During the launch, Audi Philippines cited that although the Q2 is the youngest model in the Audi range, it already boasts of a number of awards. Among these is the German Design Award—notching the honor in ‘Excellent Production Design—Transportation’. It also captured the ‘Best of the Best’ award of the Automotive Brand Contest last year as well as the best for ‘Compact Vehicle’ in the Golden Steering Wheel awards, which is widely regarded as being among the most coveted in the world.

Like other models in the PGA Cars stable and in similar high-end auto establishments, the Q2 is projected not to stay long enough in their showroom with the current mad rush for Premium Luxury cars in anticipation of the projected increase in automobile prices by early next year.

Auto industry CSR projects shine again

The wheels have begun to grind again. The search for this year’s outstanding corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects of the auto industry initiated by a group of motoring journalists (writers, reporters, editors, columnists, etc.) in the broadcast, print and online media collectively known as the Society of Philippine Motoring Journalists (SPMJ) has recently been started.  

SPMJ continues its initiative to recognize the laudable yet previously unheralded efforts of the local auto industry to uplift the lives of people and communities, to help protect and conserve our natural resources, encourage further education and promote road safety through the ‘Driven to Serve CSR Awards’.

In its maiden staging last year, the recognition awards were given in an elegant formal dinner attended by the auto industry’s top executives and associates, invited members of the motoring media, business leaders and the distinguished members of the awards’ Board of Judges at the Ceremonial Hall of the Marriott Grand Ballroom, Resorts World Manila complex.

The awards were categorized into Community Development, Environment Protection and Conservation, Training and Education and Road Safety. 

In the Community Development category, SPMJ gave the ‘Platinum Driven to Serve Award’ to Toyota Motor Philippines for its Toyota - City of Santa Rosa – Gawad Kalinga Village. The Silver went to Ford Philippines and Nissan Philippines, Inc. Ford’s CSR endeavor; “Operation Better World” provided clean running water, medical services and assistance to build houses in Ormoc and Tanauan. Nissan Philippines partnered with Habitat for Humanity to help more than 100 families rebuilt their homes in the areas hit by typhoon Yolanda in 2013.

In the Road Safety category, Ford Philippines took the Platinum award with its ‘Driving Skills for Life’ (DSFL) program, which started in 2008. The Gold awardees were Volkswagen Philippines, for its Child Safety Initiative; and Honda Cars Philippines for its I’M Blue Eco Safe Driving project.

In the Education and Training category, Toyota Motor Philippines was the recipient of the Platinum award for its TMP School of Technology, which offers a two-year Toyota General Job Automotive Servicing Course and a two-year specialized automotive training program. The Gold award was presented to Isuzu Philippines Corporation for its Isuzu-Tesda Auto Mechanic Training Center in Tacloban, Leyte. PGA Cars, distributor of Porsche cars, was given the Silver award for its Porsche Training and Recruitment Center Asia, which opened in December 2008.

Toyota Motor Philippines was awarded the Gold citation in the Environment category with its Philippine Peñablanca Sustainable Reforestation project. Silver awards were given to Isuzu Philippines Corporation and Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation. IPC was recognized for its decade-long projects that brought awareness to various environments needing protection –lakes, forests, mangroves, public parks, and even the national highway. Mitsubishi was cited for its Batad Restoration Project, which not only brought volunteers to help restore the Batad rice terraces, but also fanned spirit of “Bayanihan”.

As this year’s search continues, I shall be updating you of its latest developments, especially on new CSR initiatives from the local auto industry players.

Cast your vote and take home giveaways

This coming Saturday and Sunday, July 29 and 30, shoppers who go to Robinson’s Otis can go home with giveaways like t-shirts, wall clocks, coffee mugs, etc. when they cast their votes for their favorite automobile models in the Auto Focus Automobile of the Year—People’s Choice Awards.

The ‘on site’ voting booth shall be conveniently located at the Level 2 near Handyman.

Online voters also have the chance to win valuable giveaways. Just log on to the voting website www.autofocus.com.ph and click on the voting button. Anyone can vote once daily and stand the chance to win through daily electronic draws.

Vote and let’s hear what the public feels should be the year’s preferred models in each vehicle category and the most popular, the 2017-2018 ‘Automobile of the Year—People’s Choice’ for Standard and Premium Luxury models.

TV streaming ‘on demand’

The best of both worlds for all motoring and car enthusiasts with any of these two websites: www.motoringtoday.ph or www.autofocus.com.ph.

You can stream all of the weekly past and present episodes of the TV shows Motoring Today and Auto Focus in their entirety. Or if you don’t have that much time you can just feast on all the latest news items about traffic management and the auto industry or the latest car reviews and head-to-head comparisons of the latest models and other motoring or auto features selectively.

All those news and features—only a click away.

Happy Motoring!!!

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