When President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo recently exhorted her senior staff to lead by example to ease the Philippines’ fiscal woes, Energy Secretary Vicente Perez paid heed, ditching his Mitsubishi Pajero SUV for a Toyota Prius. The compact hybrid SUV uses both gas and electric power, allowing it to squeeze 24 kilometers out of a liter of fuel, versus the Pajero’s eight.
The notion of Perez, a 46-year-old former partner of investment bank Lazard Frères, seated in his new official car went over well with most citizens. Less pleased is Perez’s driver. “He prefers taller SUVs, where you sit high and bully your way through traffic,” says Perez. “I said, ‘No, we have to show leadership by example here. But my driver still thinks it’s a girlie car.”
