Tugade to Investors: Safety, Transparency, No Corruption—Pillars of Dutertenomics

Wazzup Pilipinas!

As the Philippines ushers in the Golden Age of Infrastructure, Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade encouraged investors to do business in the country and assured them of a level playing field without corruption.

In a joint press briefing held before the opening plenary of the World Economic Forum held in Cambodia, economic managers and infrastructure agencies presented the grand infrastructure plan of the Duterte administration called BuildBuildBuild as part of DuterteNomics—the government’s economic agenda. Secretary Tugade said that the aggressive infrastructure push will be supplemented with transparency and accountability.

“Come to the Philippines, we’ll take care of your investments. We create a scenario wherein you get a fair return on your investment because we have a safe, secure, transparent and accountable government, and principally, no corruption. We will give you a level playing field,” Tugade said.

Tugade said the government will make full use of technology to eradicate corruption especially during the bidding process, which he said is already being aired live on social media. He also shared that big-ticket projects under the Build Build Build program may be monitored via a transparency portal (www.build.gov.ph), a real-time tool where progress of projects can be tracked.

He added that investors can count on President Duterte to be uncompromising when it comes to corruption.

“The president will not allow corruption in any form, in any shape. President Duterte will be uncompromising when it comes to corruption,” Tugade said. “That is what the President is impressing in every one of us. So that the businessmen will be assured of a level playing field and a safe and secure place of business.”

The Duterte administration seeks to increase public spending on infrastructure to 5.4% of the Gross Domestic Product in 2017, the highest in more than two decades. The move is consistent with President Rodrigo Duterte’s socioeconomic agenda, which aims to reduce poverty from 26.3% in 2015 to 17% by 2022.

Among the high-impact projects presented by the DOTr are new railway networks including the country’s first subway system, development of new and existing airports, maritime developments including the country’s first barge terminal, and other efficient mass transportation systems.

DOTr to Prioritize Institutionalization of Road Safety Initiatives

Wazzup Pilipinas!

In celebration of the Global Road Safety Week, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced various road safety initiatives of the government to minimize the number of fatal road crashes in the Philippines.

With speed as the Global Road Safety Week’s focus, as expressed in its theme: Save Lives #SlowDown, the DOTr announced two new policies targeting speed as a road safety risk factor.

In a Road Safety forum organized by ImagineLaw last May 9, DOTr Assistant Secretary Mark Richmund De Leon announced that the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of RA 10916 or the Road Speed Limiter Act of 2016, which requires Public Utility Vehicles (PUVs) to install devices designed to limit the maximum speed of vehicles, has been completed and is set to be released in the coming weeks.

A joint memorandum circular on speed limit setting and enforcement will also be issued jointly by the DOTr, DILG and DPWH. With this, the DOTr hopes to increase speed enforcement activities in the Philippines when more LGUs enact and enforce speed limit ordinances. The joint circular also contains coordination mechanisms to allow LGUs to lower speed limits on national roads with high pedestrian mix, such as school zones and market areas.

Apart from these speed-related initiatives, Asec. De Leon announced that the DOTr has recently signed the Implementing Rules and Regulatons of Republic Act No. 10666 or the Safety of Children Aboard Motorcycles Act, and Republic Act No. 10913 or the Anti-Distracted Driving Act. The Safety of Children Aboard Motorcycles Act prohibits children who cannot reach the foot peg of a motorcycle and cannot fully hold on to the driver, from riding motorcycles on thoroughfares with high traffic volumes. Meanwhile, the Anti-Distracted Driving Act prohibits the use of electronic devices while driving.

The Data for Road Incident Visualization Evaluation and Reporting (DRIVER) System, an open-source online platform developed by the DOTr in partnership with the WorldBank, was also presented during the Global Road Safety Week celebration. The program aims to improve road crash data collection and analysis to enable government to introduce more strategic and timely road safety interventions. LGUs will also be able to use the DRIVER System for evaluation, monitoring and local road safety policy-making. With the joint circular and linkages with other government agencies, the DOTr hopes to extend the coverage of the system, from Metro Manila, Metro Cebu and Dipolog to the rest of the country.

To highlight the Global Road Safety Week celebration, representatives from government agencies, civil society organizations, the academe and other stakeholders, signed a declaration of commitment to improve speed limit enforcement in the Philippines.

3 Start-Ups Provide Innovative Solutions On Energy

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Closing Ceremony of the Impact Hub Fellowship on Sustainable Energy Solutions in Partnership with WWF and PEF, and supported by ADB.

After over a year, the second Fellowship incubation program of Impact Hub Manila, in partnership with Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and supported by Asian Development Bank (ADB), has come to an end with a closing ceremony last April 18. The Impact Hub Fellowship program focused on addressing the need for sustainable energy solutions by looking for promising entrepreneurs who deliver innovative products or services related to renewable energy, energy efficiency, access to energy, energy systems and energy consumption reduction.

Above photo shows Impact Hub Manila co-founder Mathias Jaeggi opens the ceremony with an inspiring speech.

Out of more than 50 applicants, only three winners were selected namely, HiGi Energy, CleverHeat and Solar Solutions, and went through an intensive 2-month cohort or accelerator program called KICK, where they received training and mentorship. Moreover, they received seed funding of Php500,000.00 each, as well as access to the coworking space and community of Impact Hub Manila. 

The three start-ups shared their journeys and accomplishments in the past year:

HiGi Energy

HiGi converts water hyacinths -- commonly known as pest plants -- and agricultural wastes into cooking energy such as briquettes. Their mission is to give access to affordable, sustainable and clean energy for low-income communities. Leon Kee and Hazel Pajotagana share, “We see ourselves redefining the charcoal industry, and to date we've sold 10,000 pieces in rural areas. We launched visibility in Manila, joined by Reuters, Impact Hub Manila, and International Speakers. We were recognized for the TAYO award, as well as given the Smart Innovation award. We even attracted the attention of ABS-CBN's Atom Araullo for Atom day.” 

Solar Solutions

Solar Solutions provides solar energy facilities focused on empowering local communities by providing them lighting, water purification, mobile charging and refrigeration systems. Raffy Concepcion and Rey Guerrero share, “We were able to partner with the NGO Kasagana Ka - they'll be including the solar sari-sari store in their line of products. .... We were able to meet key partners and referrals because of Impact Hub Manila, ADB, PEF, and WWF. “

CleverHeat

CleverHeat gives access to affordable and sustainable heat-driven refrigeration for farmers, fishermen, and small businesses, significantly cutting down electric consumption and reducing costs. Brian Tan Seng shares, “In Benguet, we saw five truck loads of organic wastes produced every day. It was a chance for us to plug in our solutions such as waste management and post-harvest food waste. Since they didn't want to make use of appliances, such as refrigerators, due to the high cost of electricity, we can provide them with a solution, our solution [in collaboration with Kitchen Energy.]”

The three start-up winners with the Impact Hub Manila co-founders and WWF and PEF representatives.

Represented by WWF and PEF during the ceremony were Attorney Gia Ibay and Ding Fuellos, respectively. Both speakers thanked Impact Hub Manila and the winners for the partnership and opportunity to work on renewable energy.

“We've been looking forward to this for so long. Despite the fact that we're a country filled with conservation, a fruitful collaboration for renewable energy would not have happened without this partnership. Hopefully, the Philippines will prosper even more in this department as well as be a more weather-resilient country in the future,” says Attorney Ibay of WWF.

Impact Hub Manila will be holding its third fellowship program soon this year focused on sustainable energy solutions in partnership with WWF, PEF, ADB and HSBC. Stay tuned for updates on the application period by following Impact Hub Manila on Facebook or subscribing to the newsletter. For more info, visit impacthub.ph.

Impact Hub Manila offers coworking spaces, incubation programs, corporate innovation workshops, and a vibrant learning community. Locally rooted and globally connected, Impact Hub continues to dominate the coworking industry as the largest global network of entrepreneurs with 15,000+ members in 101 Impact Hubs around the world. In partnership with KMC Solutions, Impact Hub Manila offers 6 key locations in Metro Manila for coworking or office space. This allows flexibility and convenience to entrepreneurs and startups who are passionate in collaborating to create an impact. Members can choose their preferred homebase (location) and move around other Impact Hub coworking spaces with no additional costs.