City Savings Bank (CitySavings) and Elaia Green Vehicles Corporation (Elaia) expand their joint motorcycle loan and e-trike venture through a brand-new partnership with the City of San Pedro, Laguna. A ceremony honoring the partnership took place on September 8 during the 2022 UnionBank Innovation Festival at the UnionBank Innovation Campus in San Pedro, Laguna.
Present at the event were CitySavings President and CEO Lorenzo Ocampo, Chief Operating Officer Manuel “Chut” Santiago, Jr., EVP – Motorcycle Loans Business Head Ret. Adm. Feliciano Angue, and VP – Dealer and Internal Stakeholder Management Head for Motorcycle Business Ruelito Aquino.
Also in attendance were Elaia President Ronaldo Miguel “Mike” Puno, San Antonio Barangay Captain Eugenio “Jun” Ynion, Tricycle Operators and Drivers’ Association (TODA) leaders from various barangays in San Pedro, Laguna, and other representatives from both the local government and CitySavings.
CitySavings is a thrift bank subsidiary of UnionBank and is one of the largest thrift banks in the country. It provides a broad range of mass market financial products and services, including motorcycle loans that enable clients, such as tricycle drivers, to switch from traditional tricycles to having their very own e-trikes. The Bank’s e-trike partner, Elaia, supplies clients with the units and also offers them both onsite and offsite after-sales services.
“We are truly delighted to support Brgy. San Antonio and San Pedro’s sustainability efforts for a greener and more environmentally-friendly city,” said Ocampo. “With Elaia’s proactive and timely electric vehicle advocacies, and CitySavings’ support to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we are focused to pursue this initiative and are hopeful of expanding it across the country.” This initiative aims to contribute to the country’s efforts at promoting SDGs 11 and 13 which promote Sustainable Cities and Communities and Climate Change Actions respectively. Specifically, this venture seeks to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by public transportation in the Philippines.
Apart from promoting eco-friendly mobility and sustainable livelihood through the e-trikes, CitySavings and Elaia’s program also provides opportunities for tricycle drivers to increase their income to an average of Php 1000 daily, thanks to factors such as a larger passenger capacity, cheaper alternative source of power through fast charging stations, comfort during travel, zero smoke emission and noise pollution, and longer battery life. The Bank seeks to show other local government units that by investing in the e-trike project, they will also help in promoting a safe, affordable, and sustainable transport system for their communities.
“Our e-trike project, in collaboration with CitySavings, opens the door to so many new opportunities of giving people better livelihoods, better lives,” said Puno. “We’re looking at a future that is sustainable, not just because we are able to reduce the pollution and carbon emissions produced by current tricycles or vehicles, but also because economically, these tricycle drivers are able to earn a more decent living, and give their families more than what they need on the daily.”
“It is a great privilege to be partnering with CitySavings and Elaia for this new program that will benefit the TODAs here in Brgy. San Antonio and in all of San Pedro,” said Ynion. “And it is a real honor for us here in San Pedro to be part of it. We are looking forward to its success here, and we are also excited to see how it will grow and change public transportation in the future for the better.”
A donation of one e-trike and one charging station to Brgy. San Antonio, and one e-trike to the City of San Pedro City, Laguna were facilitated by CitySavings and Elaia that same day.
For more information on City Savings Bank, its products, and its services, please visit www.citysavings.com.ph.
