Hundreds of Canadian $12K Dollar - 16 Seater Electric Vans heading to invade Smokey Jeepney Territory in Manila

The Comet, a prototype 16-passenger electric van, is headed to the Philippines today. It will be the first of hundreds of Comets that will replace heavily-polluting diesel jeepneys in the capital city of Manila. The vehicle was designed and built by Pangea Motors, based in Vancouver.Photo by Troy Wayrynen

A 16-passenger electric van built in Vancouver is headed to the Philippines yesterday, the first of what backers hope will be thousands of locally produced public transportation vehicles headed to the crowded streets of Manila.

The Comet, designed and built by Pangea Motors in a nondescript building near downtown Vancouver, Canada is viewed by its developers as a partial solution to the extreme air pollution in the congested city of 14 million residents. Pangea has orders from the Philippines for 200 Comets this year and expects that number to climb to 600 by the end of the year. Company CEO Michael Hippert sees the possibility for thousands of orders next year.

With that prospect in mind, the company is looking for a production site, most likely in either Vancouver or Clackamas, Ore., that Hippert says could employ hundreds by next year.

The vehicle, which made a brief publicity appearance on Vancouver streets near Esther Short Park on Monday morning, is the brainchild of Hippert and fellow electric vehicle industry veteran Ken Montler. They see the Philippines as a test site for a niche of urban transportation that makes sense for many of the world's highly congested cities.

"We believe this can be replicated anywhere in the world," said Montler, CEO of GET International, which is marketing the Comet for Pangea.

Hippert and Montler are two of three investors in Pangea, and they are the U.S. half of a joint partnership in GET International with Philippine investors. Both men were leaders in Porteon Electric Vehicles, which closed its doors after a deal to manufacture vehicles in St. Lucia collapsed. They launched the two new companies only about six months ago.

Social, financial ambitions

They have big ambitions for their venture's environmental, social, and financial potential. Manila's air pollution is among the world's most severe, Montler said, contributing to major respiratory problems for residents. The foul air from the city's approximately 55,000 diesel urban transport vehicles, known as jeepneys, reduces the life expectancy for jeepney drivers, he said. The Comet, they believe, will ease those problems.

Jeepney owners recognize the benefits that the Comet offers, Hippert said, and Philippine government officials are supporting their effort. The vehicles, which will cost around $12,000, have only about 400 parts compared to 3,000 parts for a gas-powered vehicle, reducing maintenance needs and vehicle down time. Electric power will reduce operational costs, and GET will work with local officials to establish designated transit routes to improve operational efficiency, Montler said.

In addition, Hippert and Montler have developed new financial streams for drivers, vehicle owners and their companies. Each vehicle is equipped with a video screen on the back wall, which could generate revenue from focused ad sales. Their long-term financial projects assume that the bulk of revenues will come from sales of ads that are targeted to the demographics of riders on individual routes.

The company also anticipates making money on commissions on prepaid fare cars and on fleet management services. Hippert said those revenues will be shared with vehicle owners and drivers,

The prototype vehicle is designed so that it can be built in easy-to-assemble components that can be shipped overseas for final assembly in the Philippines. That approach reduces costs for labor and shipping, while creating local jobs in the Philippines, Montler said.

For the local production in Canada, Hippert said the company will initially need 35,000 to 50,000 square feet, and that its needs could soon expand to 100,000 square feet. The company has been meeting with the Columbia River Economic Development Council in Clark County and with Clackamas County officials in Oregon, he said.

Bonnie Moore, CREDC's vice president of business growth and innovation, said she believes Pangea has found a solid market niche for electric vehicles. She said she has been actively searching for a site that would work for the company. "I just need to find an empty, and not too decrepit, building," she said.

But she acknowledged that Oregon and Clackamas County often have the ability to offer more incentives than Clark

"I think that startups need to go where the funding is, in their first seven years," she said.

No plan yet to set up a production plant in the Philippines. For orders and Information email:    sales [ @ ] highkot.com

With report from The Columbian 

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USA said to Philippines – leave Panatag Shoal to China; Navy supposed to fight for Panatag. USA is selling Panatag to China for their debt.. ?

This article could be annoying but this could help each readers to think some possibilities. "Rebuilding for the Better Philippines" is not also anti Americans but we are just trying to figure out everything to give light some issues hidden by the government to the crying public. The Philippines could be a victim in this case.

USA Trillion Dollar Debts in China quits for selling Panatag shoal, a Philippine Island?

According to the About.com –US Government Info, the U.S. debt was more than $14.3 trillion during the so-called debt crisis of 2011, when the level of borrowing reached its statutory limit and the president warned of a potential default if the cap wasn't raised.

So who owns all that U.S. debt?

About 32 cents for every dollar of U.S. debt, or $4.6 trillion, is owned by the federal government in trust funds, for Social Security and other programs such as retirement accounts, according to the U.S. Department of Treasury.

China and U.S. Debt

The largest portion of U.S. debt, 68 cents for every dollar or about $10 trillion, is owned by individual investors, corporations, state and local governments and, yes, even foreign governments such as China that hold Treasury bills, notes and bonds.

Foreign governments hold about 46 percent of all U.S. debt held by the public, more than $4.5 trillion. The largest foreign holder of U.S. debt is China, which owns more about $1.2 trillion in bills, notes and bonds, according to the Treasury.

In total, China owns about 8 percent of publicly held U.S. debt. Of all the holders of U.S. debt China is the third-largest, behind only the Social Security Trust Fund's holdings of nearly $3 trillion and the Federal Reserve's nearly $2 trillion holdings in Treasury investments, purchased as part of its quantitative easing program to boost the economy.

Criticism of China Owning U.S. Debt

To put China's ownership of U.S. debt in perspective, its holding of $1.2 trillion is even larger than the amount owned by American households. U.S. citizens hold only about $959 billion in U.S. debt, according to the Federal Reserve.

Other large foreign holders of U.S. debt include Japan, which owns $912 billion; the United Kingdom, which owns $347 billion; Brazil, which holds $211 billion; Taiwan, which holds $153 billion; and Hong Kong, which owns $122 billion.

Some Republicans have expressed concern over the amount of U.S. debt owned by China. Republican U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, a 2012 presidential hopeful, joked that when it came to the debt "Hu's your daddy," a reference to Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Despite such joking, the truth is the bulk of the $14.3 trillion U.S. debt - $9.8 trillion in all - is owned by the American people and its government.

U.S to Philippines: stop anti-China rhetorics

Pres. Aquino greets Col. Stephen Neary, commander of the US Marines participating in 2011 Balikatan exercises.

A Commentary written by by Ellen Tordesillas published in Yahoo News titles "U.S to Ph: stop anti-China rhetorics"  gains criticism by the Pro Pnoy supporters as it tried to give light of the hidden agenda of China's take over in the Panatag Shoal, Zambales Province.

Many, including high-ranking Philippine officials, like to think that increased presence of American military in the Philippines, which is a subject of talks between the two countries starting today, is a commitment by the Americans to defend the Philippines in case of an armed conflict in the West Philippine Sea, where a number of islands are being claimed wholly or partly by the Philippines, Brunei, China, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Those who have taken these view will be disappointed because the U.S has taken  a neutral position in the conflicting claims in the South China Sea (part of it is referred to  as West Philippine Sea) and has always been consistent  in urging for a peaceful resolution of the conflicting claims.

The Obama administration has decided to rebalance its military forces from Middle East to Asia, in what is seen by analysts as a move to contain China's hegemony in the region.

But as former UN Representative Lauro Baja, Jr.  observed, the  Americans do not want to 'vulgarize' this objective.

In increasing its presence in Asia, the United States does not want to play referee to countries fighting over  islands, rocks and  shoals. "They want a stable region. They don't want to prejudice their strategic relations with China, which is more important than claims over rocks and shoals," Baja said.

In preparation for the implementation of their Pivot to Asia policy, senior American officials have been coming here the past months and assessing the situation. One thing that they were concerned about is the tension between the Philippines and China over  the disputed islands especially Bajo de Masinloc otherwise known as Scarborough Shoal or Panatag shoal and lately the Ayungin shoal.

The Philippines has filed a suit with the UN Arbitral Court questioning China's nine dash-line, which encompasses the whole South China Sea including several countries' territories.

A source said some of the analysts interviewed by American officials said that the "Shame China" strategy of the Department of Foreign Affairs under  Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has contributed largely to the  deteriorating relations between the Philippines and China.

Del Rosario has, several times accused China of  "duplicity and intimidation." Malacañang spokesperson Edwin Lacierda has also made sure that he is not behind in China-bashing.

In the 2010 and 2011 State-of-the Nation address by President Aquino, he had strong words against China.

In his 2011 SONA, Aquino, declared: " There was a time when we couldn't appropriately respond to threats in our own backyard. Now, our message to the world is clear: What is ours is ours; setting foot on Recto Bank is no different from setting foot on Recto Avenue."

He was referring to the disputed Recto or Reed Bank near Palawan.

In his 2012 SONA, he talked lengthily about the situation in Bajo de Masinloc. He said, "We demonstrated utmost forbearance in dealing with this issue. As a sign of our goodwill, we replaced our navy cutter with a civilian boat as soon as we could. We chose not to respond to their media's harangues. I do not think it excessive to ask that our rights be respected, just as we respect their rights as a fellow nation in a world we need to share.

"There are those who say that we should let Bajo de Masinloc go; we should avoid the trouble. But if someone entered your yard and told you he owned it, would you agree? Would it be right to give away that which is rightfully ours?"

Aquino can be stubborn. But he listens to America. Last year, a month after he withdrew all the ships from Bajo de Masinloc, he, supported by the majority of the members of his cabinet, decided to send back the ships to the area which was by then already controlled by the Chinese. Upon learning of Malacañang's decision, the U.S. relayed the advice through defense officials that it would not be wise to send back the ships to Bajo de Masinloc . The ships were not sent back.

Our source said, two weeks before the President's State of the Nation address, U.S. officials advised the DFA and Malacanang to tone down their anti-China rhetorics to reduce tension in the region. That explains why in last month's SONA there was no mention, not a word, about conflict with China.

Last Aug. 2, Del Rosario, who never let any media opportunity to censure China pass, told members of the foreign correspondents association in the country, that he was not keen on guesting in their forum on the South China Sea because he was "looking for a modus vivendi with China."

China should thank Uncle Sam..

With report from Yahoo news

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Davao, Philippines ranked as 4th safest in 349 cities in the World over Seoul Korea and Hongkong

Screen captured from Numbeo.com website 

DAVAO -- The city of Davao ranked fourth as the world's safest place, according to website Numbeo.com.

Out of 349 entries, Davao City is the only metropolis in the Philippines that made it to the top 10. It has a crime index of 13.27 and safety index of 86.73.

Makati landed at 20th place with a crime index of 18.75 and safety index of 81.25.

The only other cities listed from the Philippines are: Manila with a crime index of 64.54 and safety index of 35.46, and Cebu with a crime index of 46.88 and safety index of 53.12.

According to the website, safety index is, on the other way, quite opposite of crime index. If the city has a high safety index, it is considered very safe.

It said that it is 93.75 percent safe to walk alone during daylight in Davao, while 76.69 percent safe to walk alone during night.

"These data are based on perceptions of visitors of this website in the past two years. If value is 0, it means it is perceived as very low, and if value is 100, it means it is perceived as very high," the website said.

With regard the crime index of 18.75, the website explained, the issue with the highest rate is the problem on corruption and bribery with 31.67, followed by "worries things from car stolen" with 29.69, then "worries home broken and things stolen" with 26.56.

The issue with the least crime rate is "worries being subject to a physical attack because of your skin color, ethnic origin or religion" with 6.67.

Treat with caution

The source Numbeo claims to be the world's largest database of user contributed data about cities and countries worldwide.

It provides current and timely information on world living conditions including cost of living, housing indicators, health care, traffic, crime and pollution.

But it gathers data through user input, thus although it is popularly consulted as source for cost of living, its data have to be addressed with caution.

User input can skew data and will not reflect the whole picture, especially from places where there is not much available data. It cannot also be ascertained where and how the numbers can be verified.

The crime and safety indexes were published online at http://www.numbeo.com/crime/rankings_current.jsp around 11 p.m. of August 8.

The website also said that Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates placed first among the safest place with a safety index rate of 90.47, then Lugano, Switzerland (90.16), and third is Marbella, Spain (88.78).

Fifth is Taipei, Taiwan (86.26); next is Munich, Germany (86.06); Quebec City, Canada (85.55) ranked seventh; then Hong Kong, Hong Kong (85.51) as eighth; Seoul, South Korea (84.28) on ninth place; and Bern, Switzerland (84.24) as tenth.

Netizens happy

Netizens all over the country lauded the result posted online.

Chris Ryl said: "Akalain mo ba naman nasa Mindanao yun pa ang mas least of crime rate sa Pilipinas! at tumatak pa sa buong mundo... GO DAVAO!!!"

"Wow congrats. Ipahiram nyo po ang DDS sa Maynila pra maubos mga kriminal dun," netizen Kenneth G. Taningco said.

Some netizens also attributed the result to Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, the city's executive chief for an unprecedented seventh term.

"Kung ganyan katapang ni mayor ng Davao ang nag papatakbo ng Pinas at pinapairal ang disiplina at batas, talagang my takot ang mga mokong gumawa ng kalokohan. Mabuhay ka mayor Doterte. Lagi mo akong kasangga sa ganyang prinsipyo," netizen Al Dallu said.

Edmund Moonraker said, "Thumbs up!! po ako kay Mayor Rudy R. Duterte. Maganda po ang kanyang pagdala ng Davao City. Mabuhay po kayo Mayor Duterte puwedi na po kayong tumakbo ng presidente sa 2016."

"Duterte for president!" Jevy Carretero Ramos said.

With report from (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)

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