The government should start promoting the use of electric vehicles (e-vehicles) as a way to counter the effects of any abrupt disturbance on oil importation especially in the world market, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said.

Gatchalian, chair of the Senate Committee on Energy, said that while it may take a while for the government to fully implement the use of e-vehicles, it should start the initiative now, so the Philippines can lessen its dependence on imported oil.

“Unang-una gumamit na tayo ng electric vehicles. May bagong batas na ho tayo, tayo ay may-akda nito at dapat ipatupad na ito para gumamit na tayo ng electric vehicles. Umpisahan muna natin dun sa mga modern bus dahil yung mga modern bus ay talagang nakikita natin na napaka-convenient (First, let’s start using e-vehicles. We already have a law on this, we authored it and it should be implemented so we can start using e-vehicles. We can start off with the modern buses which we see are more convenient),” Gatchalian said in an interview on Radio DZME.

“Dapat maumpisahan na iyan dahil sa ibang bansa eh, pakonti-konti eh inuumpisahan na nila (They should start now because in other countries, they are starting the use of e-vehicles little by little),” he added.

“Kasi dapat masanay rin ang tao, hindi overnight naman masasanay ang tao pero dapat umpisahan na (Because the people should also be used to it, people may not get used to it overnight, but they should already start),” said the senator.

While e-vehicles may be perceived as expensive, Gatchalian said he believes the price of one unit is manageable.

Soon, he said, the cost of e-vehicles is expected to lower due to the number of cities worldwide that have chosen to shift to the use of e-vehicles.

“Actually magugulat tayo dahil andaming bansa pati ang China na pumapasok dito, mura na ngayon ang e-vehicles (Actually we would be surprised because many countries including China are into e-vehicles because it is now cheaper),” he said.

“Halos itong mga maliliit halos kasingpresyo na nito itong mga ordinary na sasakyan. So may pagkamahalan at kulang pa ngayon ang imprastruktura pero hindi kalayo ang presyo ng e-vehicles at ng ordinaryong sasakyan (The small ones are almost priced at the same range of an ordinary car. While it may be a bit pricey and we still lack infrastructure for it. But the price of e-vehicles and ordinary vehicles are almost the same),” he pointed out.

And for the program to fully materialize, Gatchalian, who is seeking a fresh term in the Senate in the upcoming May polls, said the government should start establishing charging stations for e-vehicles.

“Yun ang wala tayo. Yung batas na ito ay mahalaga dahil yung charging station ay mabibigyan na ngayon ng pansin (That’s what we are lacking. The law is important because it will mandate the government to start the creation of charging stations),” he said.

Congress has approved and submitted to Malacañang the EVIDA or Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act and is now close to being signed by President Duterte.