Nissan Philippines (NPI) recently visited Ormoc City to participate in the community’s annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony while advocating sustainable mobility with the 100% electric Nissan Leaf. The Leaf powered up the city’s 50-foot Christmas tree through the EV’s V2X technology, allowing the vehicle to act as a power generator.
Nissan co-presented the Philippine EV Summit last October and has been frontlining the Leaf to promote its electrification plans for the country. With the trip to Ormoc City, Nissan is taking one of the many steps to reinforce the role of sustainable mobility in creating resilient societies through its Blue Switch initiative launched in January of this year.
Ormoc has often been beset by strong typhoons, such as Odette, which devastated the city in December 2021. In the wake of that typhoon, two Leaf EVs provided emergency power to affected families.
In attendance at the tree-lighting ceremony was Nissan Philippines president Juan Manuel Hoyos, City Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez, Leyte 4th District Representative Richard Gomez, Ormoc City SP Chair Peter “Perok” Rodriguez, and Vice Mayor Leo Carmelo Locsin Sr. Also present were Michael Goho, VP and COO of Gateway Motors, the exclusive distributor of Nissan Leaf in the Philippines, and Willard Chan, Ryan Chan, and Charlene Chan, president, managing director, and CFO, respectively, of Topcars Autoworld Corp, the owner and operator of the Nissan dealership in Ormoc City.
“We are very honored to have been a part of this special ceremony. We understand the significance of the event to the city of Ormoc and we’re glad that the Leaf brought joy to the local community. We look forward to helping the city in its recovery efforts and be more resilient with the help of our EV technologies,” says Hoyos. (Story and photos courtesy of Nissan Philippines)