BAGUIO CITY—The Public Transport Office of the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR) is not about to wait for the P1-billion government loans for engine conversion to the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as motor- vehicle fuel to reach the city before taking action.

It is pushing its own scheme in speeding up acceptance of LPG use in vehicles, especially among public-utility vehicle operators by relaunching the LPG program for motor vehicles.

Jonie Itliong, regional transport coordinator for the Public Transport Affairs of the CAR, said the reason LPG use did not gain traction among the public transport sector when it was launched here in January is because of misconceptions and lack of information on the benefits of LPG use as vehicle fuel.

The Public Transport Office is now on a campaign to spread more information on the benefits of LPG use.

A total of 4,347 jeepneys and about 3,500 taxi units registered with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) ply the Baguio -La Trinidad roads. But according to Itliong, only 120 vehicles have converted to LPG use. Only about 10 percent of them are public-utility vehicles. The city has only one shop for LPG conversion and supply, complete with financing assistance.

JP Auto Gas Co. owner Joseph Wee explained that for every liter of gasoline at P60 per liter and diesel at P53 per liter, LPG use reduces cost by 35 percent to 50 percent at P34.30 on the equivalent liter of diesel or gasoline.

A taxi driver, for instance, takes home only about P100 to P150 in income these days, Itliong said. “We are trying to find a way to help them,” he said.

“We have asked operators to lower boundary rates, but even then there are instances when drivers have to cover up for boundary rates and come home at a loss. These days, you find many taxis garaged or owner-drivers operating their own cabs,” he said. He added that many cabs also don’t go out every day but only on days of good passenger traffic. Jeepney express trips are also rare now as jeepney drivers want their units full before taking off.

A conversion kit gasoline to LPG made in Italy costs P28,000, Wee said. Conversion for electronic fuel- injection engines costs P35,000, he added. Conversion takes only eight hours. He also said 12 million people in the world are on LPG-run vehicles and that number can’t be wrong on health and safety issues. Many roads in Baguio City have steep inclines, but Itliong assured that engines running on LPG, with an octane of 110 compared with gasoline octane of 95, can negotiate road conditions here.

Itliong said an LPG engine costs P200,000 and that it becomes less costly to convert from gasoline to diesel.

However, many public-utility vehicles run on diesel engines and, therefore, have to convert from diesel to gasoline first. “Surplus stores sell gasoline engines for only P7,000,” Wee said.

Itliong also said his office is awaiting the results of test runs of LPG engines now in Antipolo before they test one or two vehicles on Baguio roads.

Wee also said gasoline will run only 5,000 km before oil change, while LPG or auto gas will run 15,000 km before a need for oil change and that the LPG pushes out clogs that leave spark plugs clean, which result in a 50-percent savings on maintenance from P900 for diesel vehicles to P473 for LPG-run taxis.

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