By Vicente Labro
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Move over electric cars, bamboo cars are the next eco-friendly transport.
A farming town has started to assemble cars using bamboo and other indigenous materials in pursuit of the green agenda. It has also fabricated equipment for waste recycling.
Tabontabon, a fifth-class municipality of over 10,000 people and situated 30 kilometers south of Tacloban City, began the environment-friendly projects on the initiative of its mayor, Dr. Rustico Balderian.
Balderian, 53, a physician serving his first term as mayor, recalls that the car assembly venture arose from the town’s need for an alternative means of transportation.
Jeepneys seldom ply the route because it takes hours for the vehicles to fill up with passengers. The main mode of transport is the motorcycle, locally known as habal-habal which, according to the mayor, is prone to accidents.
To solve the problem, Balderian says he looked around for a form of transport that can compete with the habal-habal, jeepney and multicab in terms of cost and efficiency. With the help of residents and out-of-school youths, he experimented with a three-wheeler and a car with a one-cylinder engine.
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