Sixteen fully electric Love Buses are set to be deployed in Pampanga under a partnership between the MVP Group’s Tulong Kapatid program and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), according to the Newsmakers column “Mike About Town” in Philstar.com on Thursday, October 15.
The buses will prioritize persons with disabilities (PWDs), women and senior citizens. They will also serve as a source of income for PWDs, the column said.
Who Is Providing the Buses
The MVP Group will provide eight units and the DSWD will provide eight more, under the DSWD’s Sustainable Livelihood Program. Four of the MVP Group’s eight buses will come from the PLDT-Smart Foundation, with support from First Pacific Company Limited.
Global Electric Transport (GET), the DSWD’s implementing partner, will support deployment and operation. The Pampanga provincial government, led by Gov. Lilia “Nanay” Pineda, will work with the MVP Group, the DSWD and GET on running the buses.
MVP Group chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan and DSWD Central Luzon regional director Venus F. Rebuldela led the ceremonial signing.
How the Buses Will Work
The buses will anchor PWD-Electric Transportation Services, which are run by associations under the Sustainable Livelihood Program. That makes the project both a way for PWDs to get around and a way for them to earn a living, the column said.
“My hopes for these buses are both ordinary and meaningful,” Pangilinan said, according to the column. He spoke of students getting to school on time and nurses reaching their shifts without having to ride several jeepneys and tricycles.
Rebuldela said the program promotes the long-term economic self-reliance of PWDs.
Why Pangilinan Keeps Returning to Apalit
The column noted that Apalit, a first-class municipality in Pampanga with 121,057 people as of 2024, is Pangilinan’s hometown. He spent part of his childhood there, and the column says this is why the MVP Group’s Tulong Kapatid corporate social responsibility arm keeps coming back.
In mid-September, weeks of Habagat rains left Apalit under deep floodwaters. Pangilinan returned to Barangay San Juan, where he grew up, and handed out relief packs to evacuees at the Jose Escaler Memorial School. Tulong Kapatid also gave relief packs and drinking water to the municipal government, led by Mayor Oscar “Jun” Tetangco Jr., for distribution to other flood-hit communities.
