By Caesar Vallejos
Eagle News online correspondent
A Filipino company which was the first to manufacture the environment-friendly “e-trikes”, or electric three-wheelers was awarded the “Green Company of the Year” recently.
The ‘Green Company of the Year’ award was given to E-motors during the prestigious 2015 Asia CEO Awards held at the Marriott Hotel Manila recently.
It was given by ADEC Innovations, a global leader in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) solutions.
The ADEC Innovations Green Company of the Year award aims to recognize the corporate and non-corporate organizations that have demonstrated strong leadership and participation in sustainability and environmental protection programs and initiatives in the Philippines. Proclaimed winner E-Motors is a Filipino-owned company which is the first manufacturer and assembler of zero-emission, electric three-wheelers (e-trikes) to be registered with the Board of Investment’s Motor Vehicle Development Program (BOI-MVDP). Other notable finalists in this category were Aboitiz Power, Accenture, Ten Knots Development Coproration/El Nido Resorts, MIESCOR, and Organic Tuks+Oil.
“If you take a look at the companies that were in the same category, just to be a finalist with them makes me really grateful. It’s truly God’s blessing. It also means that as Green Company of the Year, we need to do something more about climate change mitigation and learn from companies that are already in this area,” Ms. Elizabeth Lee, CEO of E-Motors said.Lee mentioned that E-Motors was chosen by the administration to represent the Philippines in APEC to show the country’s initiatives in climate change mitigation and inclusive growth. There are 3.5 million ICE tricycles in the country today. “Our dream is to replace all these ICE tricycles with clean, green electric trikes. Drivers can also earn more using our e-trikes. A percentage of our sales go to the micro-finance arm of a Christian foundation. We want to make an impact in climate change mitigation, poverty alleviation, and promoting the practice of “Gawa ng Pilipino para sa Pilipino,” Ms. Lee added.
“It is because of the mission and vision of ADEC Innovations that gave companies like E-motors the opportunity to follow its footsteps which is much further ahead in the area of environmental sustainability. I’m really grateful and thankful of companies like ADEC Innovations that espouse empowerment,” Ms. Lee stressed.
ADEC Innovations has ardently advocated environmental sustainability through its member company FirstCarbon Solutions (FCS), an environmental sustainability company that provides end-to-end business solutions by combining consulting, program management, and software services with expertise in back-office data processing to deliver comprehensive and cost-effective energy, sustainability, and supply chain solutions to diverse organizations around the globe. FCS is currently the exclusive scoring partner of CDP’s (Carbon Disclosure Project) supply chain program.
Aside from the ADEC Innovations Green Company of the Year, 14 highly coveted awards were chosen by the distinguished Board of Judges of Asia CEO Awards composed of Dr. Bernie Villegas, distinguished Filipino economist and professor at the University of Asia and the Pacific; Don Felbaum, Founder and Chairman of the ICT Committee and the Health Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines; Edward Chang, President of the Korean Chamber of Commerce Philippines and CEO of Asia Pacific Express Corp. (APEX); John Casey, former President of the Australia-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce and CEO of Blue Cross; Jun Palafox, Principal Architect of the world-renowned architectural design firm Palafox Associates; Oscar Sanez, Vice-President for International Operations at San Miguel Foods; and Richard Mills, Former President of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines.
Held each year since 2010, the Asia CEO Awards acknowledge leaders and organizations who have made significant contributions to help build the nation into one of the fastest-growing countries in the world. It promotes leadership excellence and team-building within organizations and highlights Filipino business accomplishments to the world’s business leaders. In line with the ASEAN Integration, the ASIA CEO Awards has extended its reach to other Southeast Asian countries this year.