AC Motors, the automotive and motorcycle arm of AC Industrials, together with Ayala Foundation Inc., donated 10 brand new Kia 2500 Kargo and Karga units to the provincial government of Batangas. The Kia commercial vehicles will be used to help with evacuations and deliver goods to the people in the area. Along with the turnover of vehicles, volunteer associates of AC motors and the motoring media joined in and distributed relief goods to six evacuation centers in the area.
The relief operations were done in response to the widespread effect of Taal Volcano’s sudden eruption. The ashfall, earthquakes, and the pending threat of a major eruption have led to the evacuation of the public within a 14-kilometer danger zone. The people displaced from the area are now in various evacuation centers in Batangas, Cavite, and Laguna.
AC Motors, together with 30 members of the motoring media, drove the 10 Kia K2500 and other vehicles under the automotive group such as Volkswagen, Maxus, Kia, Honda, and Isuzu. The convoy set off from the Honda Makati dealership and proceeded to the Batangas Provincial Capitol. There the group met with local coordinators and guides to the six evacuation centers in the towns of Alitagtag, Santa Teresita, San Jose, San Luis, Padre Garcia, and Mataas na Kahoy. All the vehicles that participated in the event were laden with relief goods.
The volunteers at the evacuation centers, handed out hygiene kits, towels, blankets, sleeping mats, mattresses, clothes, and underwear to at least 1,200 families. These families are all from different disaster-affected areas. Apart from the six centers, three other areas were also visited by the volunteers. These were in Barangay Madalunot, Barangay Caloocan, and Barangay Bagong Pook. These locations also received relief goods from the group.
After the distribution of goods was finished, the volunteer group met up at the Batangas Provincial Capitol where the 10 Kia Karga units were turned over. The donated vehicles serve as transportation for relief items in provincial evacuation centers and hard to reach areas in the province. These vehicles will later be sent off to affected municipalities that need them the most.
The project is a collective effort from everybody, from Ayala Corporation to AC Motors to Ayala Foundation to the motoring media. Special thanks to Kia Philippines for donating 10 brand new Kia K2500 light trucks which can be used extensively for relief operations in Batangas.
