CAMPI urged to help ‘fix a broken system’
The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) celebrated on May 29 its 30th anniversary at the Grand Hyatt Manila. CAMPI founder and chair Rep. Jose Chaves Alvarez invited Department of Transportation Secretary, Vince Dizon, to give the keynote speech. And so, the Secretary did, and in a rather candid and honest way, too. His impassioned plea to those in attendance might as well be the chamber’s battlecry forward: Let’s not just grow the industry. Let’s fix a rotten system. Let’s move the masses. Let’s save lives.
But before Dizon took to the stage, CAMPI’s leaders delivered their own remarks.
Atty. Imelda Abadilla-Brown, CAMPI vice president, was first to speak. She said: “CAMPI is undergoing a transformation of being a convenor of industry stakeholders to a proactive leader and partner in driving mobility reform. We are reimagining our mission and vision in response to the evolving needs of society and environment. The future of mobility is not just about electric vehicles, digital platforms or autonomous driving. It is also about inclusivity, sustainability, safety and preparing for the jobs of our people for tomorrow. CAMPI stands firm behind these pillars. We aim to be a strong voice for technology and innovation, a champion for clean and sustainable energy, an advocate for safety standards, and a catalyst for upskilling and industry development.”
Next up was Alvarez, who said: “Since CAMPI was formed three decades ago, the association has made significant strides in aiding development of automotive manufacturing and advancing motorization in the country. This resulted in the industry’s unmatched collective contribution to the economy and improving the lives of Filipinos both from side of automotive labor force, and customers and end-users of various mobility platforms. We couldn’t have done this without industry collaboration and our partnership with all of our member companies.”
Then, it was CAMPI president Atty. Rommel Gutierrez’s turn. Gutierrez, who has been the chamber’s president for 15 years, stressed road safety as one of the four pillars of the organization. “On road safety, our aim is to provide road safety information for road users, encourage safer road user behavior not only of current drivers but most especially future generation road users to reduce the number of accidents on the roads,” he said.
Gutierrez defined the future of the automotive industry as revolving around technology and innovation, road safety, sustainability and industry development, citing “emerging technologies like electrification, autonomous driving, connected cars, and advanced driver assistance.”
The event also saw CAMPI’s first woman president honored. Elizabeth Lee was CAMPI president for seven years, from 2004 to 2011. Today, Lee is a social entrepreneur with EMotors, Inc. (an e-mobility company) and a green technology advocate. Lee was also a TOWNS (The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service) awardee.
But it was Dizon’s speech that served as the emotional highlight of the night.
Dizon told the audience of CAMPI officers, car manufacturers, dealers, and members of the motoring media: “We all just have to call a spade a spade and admit that this is really a broken system. I think that enough is enough. We have to find a way to change it. And I think your role as CAMPI, your role in the entire industry, is crucial to this sea of change that we want to happen. This system frankly is rotten right to the core. We’ve all gone through it. We’ve been part of it in some way—as drivers, dealers who deal with the system, businessmen who deal with the system for so long. I think it’s about time that we come together and really find a way to change it. And in your 30th year I think this should be one of the milestones that hopefully we’ll be able to reach in the coming years.”
Dizon, who has been DOTr Secretary for just over three months, said he arrived at this somber reality because of certain events that took place in the last two months.
“Before I came in and when I met the President for the first time, and when he had asked me to join his cabinet, my thinking of my future job at the time in February was I would be building airports, railways and seaports,” Dizon began. Then, he said, Holy Week of 2025 arrived.
“They always say Holy Week is hell week for the DOTr. Everybody is out on the roads. Obviously, the probability for accidents to happen is very high. And there were a lot of accidents, but it was a couple of weeks after that when there were accidents that really jolted not only the DOTr but the entire country.”
Dizon then mentioned the crash on the Subic-Clark Tarlac Expressway (SCTex) where a Solid North bus rammed into a line of private cars, trucks and buses exiting the tollway, and the NAIA Terminal 1 incident where an SUV plowed through pedestrians at the departure area. In both incidents, multiple lives were lost, including children.
Dizon admitted these crashes “really struck home.”
“A couple of months before (the NAIA crash), I actually brought my 14-year-old daughter to the same spot. I dropped her off exactly where the accident would happen. She was on her way to Taipei for a conference for school. (After learning of the crash), I had to rush home to hug my daughter really tight. It just made me realize how important the role of DOTr is, the LTO and all our regulatory agencies in really making people safe,” Dizon said.
