Motoring Today Column

Dec 23, 2020

The Year's Best

The votes were cast. The votes have been counted. Like the recent elections in a country far, far away but so near our hearts because so many of our families live there, the voting and the counting have been fair and square.

And unlike those aforementioned elections, and no one will be crying fraud.

We're talking about the annual Auto Focus People's Choice Awards and the Auto Focus Media Choice Awards . This year, of course, has proven unprecedented in many ways.

The voting went live on April 1 and ended after an extended 8-month on November 30. And for two weeks heading in final judging, unit sales were audited and incorporated in the final tally of votes. The consolidated were ratified and submitted before the AFPCA Awards Committee.

The AFPCA and the AFMCA are part of Sunshine Television's annual Automobile Industry Merit Program which aims to give car buyers a voice as to which they think are the best forms of personal mobility out in the market.

The awards also recognize the automobile industry's sustained efforts to provide car owners and motorists with the best on-board features, styling, performance and overall value.

Before we congratulate this year's winners, we'd like to express our sincerest appreciation to all those who participated in Sunshine Television's annual merit programs, by way of sponsorship, support, and voting.

We'd also like to gratefully acknowledge the participation of a very select group of recognized motoring media professionals and practitioners for being part of the awards.

In the 2020-2021 Auto Focus People's Choice Awards, theStandard Automobile of the Year is the Toyota Hilux.

The Luxury Automobile of the Year is the Toyota Alphard.

The Models of the Year are:

1. Standard Sedan of the Year - Toyota Wigo

2. Luxury Sedan of the Year - Mercedes-Benz E-Class

3. Standard Sports Car of the Year - Ford Mustang

4. Luxury Sports Car of the Year - Porsche 911

5. Standard SUV/Crossover of the Year - Toyota Rush

6. Luxury SUV/Crossover of the Year - BMW X2

7. Standard Van/MPV of the Year - Mitsubishi Xpander

8. Luxury Van/MPV of the Year - Honda Odyssey

9. Standard Pickup of the Year - Nissan Navara

In the 2020-2021 Auto Focus Media Choice Awards, the winners are:

BEST DESIGN

Standard Category:

Mini Sedan - Honda Brio

Subcompact Sedan - Mazda2

Compact Sedan - Mazda3

Midsize Sedan - Mazda6

Subcompact SUV/Crossover - Suzuki Jimny

Midsize SUV/Crossover - Mazda CX-9

Pickup - Ford Ranger

MPV - Mitsubishi Xpander

Luxury Category:

Luxury Subcompact Sedan - MINI Cooper

Luxury Compact Sedan - Mercedes-Benz C-Class

Luxury Midsize Sedan - BMW 5 Series

Luxury Large Sedan - Porsche Panamera

Luxury MPV - Peugeot Traveller

Luxury Van - Toyota Alphard

BEST ENGINE PERFORMANCE

Standard Category:

Mini Sedan - Honda Brio

Midsize Sedan - Mazda6

Sports Car - Nissan GT-R

Midsize SUV/Crossover - Mazda CX-9

Pickup - Isuzu D-Max

MPV - Toyota Innova

Van - Toyota Hiace

Luxury Category:

Luxury Subcompact Sedan - BMW 1 Series

Luxury Midsize Sedan - BMW 5 Series

Luxury Large Sedan - Porsche Panamera

Luxury Sports Car - Lamborghini Huracan

Luxury Compact SUV/Crossover - Porsche Macan

Luxury Midsize SUV/Crossover - Porsche Cayenne

Luxury MPV - BMW 2 Series Gran Tourer

Luxury Van - Lexus LM350

BEST SAFETY FEATURES

Standard Category:

Mini Sedan - Honda Brio

Compact Sedan - Mazda3

Midsize Sedan - Honda Accord

Compact SUV/Crossover - Subaru Levorg

Pickup - Ford Ranger

Van - Toyota Hiace

Luxury Category:

Luxury Subcompact Sedan - BMW 1 Series

Luxury Compact Sedan - Mercedes-Benz C Class

Luxury Midsize Sedan - Mercedes-Benz E Class

Luxury Large Sedan - BMW 7 Series

Luxury Compact SUV/Crossover - Range Rover Evoque

Luxury Midsize SUV - Volvo XC60

Luxury Large SUV - Volvo XC90

Luxury MPV - BMW 2 Series Gran Tourer

Luxury Van - Lexus LM350

BEST VALUE FOR MONEY

Standard Category:

Mini Sedan - Honda Brio

Subcompact SUV/Crossover - Geely Coolray

Midsize SUV/Crossover - Isuzu Mu-X

Large SUV/Crossover - Mitsubishi Pajero

Van - Toyota Hiace

Luxury Category:

Luxury Subcompact Sedan - BMW 1 Series

Luxury Midsize SUV/Crossover - Lexus RX350

Luxury MPV - Peugeot Traveller

Luxury Van - Toyota Alphard

Taking A Toll

The move to 100 percent cashless transactions at tollgates has certainly taken a toll on motorists, the tollways operators and the government authorities themselves.

Blame has been passed around freely for the problems that came as a result of trying to get hundreds of thousands of vehicles installed with RFIDs in a relatively short period of time.

We all know these problems as most of us have experienced suffering or continuing to suffer the long lines at RFID installation sites, the congestion at tollgates with defective RFID readers, problems with"stolen" or missing "credit or load."

Motorists were blamed for procrastinating until the deadlines. Government authorities for shortsightedness in policies and guidelines. Tollway operators for inefficiencies. The CoViD-19 pandemic itself for causing supply problems with production and shipment of RFIDs. The providers of the cashless payment system to tollways for glitches in their systems that steal loads.

Still, we must all grin and bear the problems that comes with trying to keep tollgate operations from being vectors for the spread of CoViD-19.

Now, the government reports that 90 percent of transactions in the country's toll roads were through radio frequency identification (RFID) sticker use, as a result of the implementation of the cashless transaction since 01 December 2020.

It also reports that as of December 8, more than 3.7 million RFID stickers have been installed, compared to 1.4 million when the program just started.

Meanwhile, the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) has already warned tollway operators to immediately implement various measures to resolve the issues that caused congestion at toll roads.

However, motorists should expect the issues with RFID transactions and congestion at entrance and exit tollgates should be resolved sooner than later.

Also important to be aware of is Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade's assurance to senators during a recent Senate hearing that the transportation agency is carefully studying the implementation of the 100% cashless transaction by giving extension to the toll operators to improve their system, and to provide quality service to motorists, while adapting to digitization and ensuring health and safety of the Filipinos.

Said he: "Yung unang effectivity ng November 2, sinabi kong gawing December 1. Pagkatapos, pagkarating ng December 1, dahilan sa karanasan na 'yan, among others, sinabi ko dapat i-maintain pa rin ang cash booth, dapat i-maintain pa rin ang cash transactions at walang huhulihin at pagmumultahin."

Happy Motoring!!!

For comments & inquiries:

(email) sunshine.television@yahoo.com

(website) www.motoringtoday.ph

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ray Butch Gamboa graduated from the College of Arts and Letters of the University of Sto. Tomas. It was a course that should have been preparatory to a law degree, but the call of broadcasting aborted his plans.

At the age of 16, while still a student, Butch tried his hand at disc jockeying, landing a job at Mareco Broadcasting Network’s AM stations DZBM and DZLM. From there, Butch moved on with his illustrious career as a popular disc jockey, riding the airwaves of Bob Stewart’s middle-of-the-road music at DZXX, and ending his disc jockeying career at ABS-CBN’s DZYL and DZQL.

From there, he stayed on with ABS-CBN, covering live the proceedings at the Manila Stock Exchange and eventually entered into the world of television sales as an account manager for the premier channel of ABS-CBN Channel 2.

In the early 70’s, at the outbreak of Martial Law, Butch was one of the thousands of professionals who woke up jobless when then President Marcos declared the new status of the nation. With the closure of ABS-CBN, Butch ventured into different fields outside of broadcast. He tried his hand and with ease and success at export (Costume jewelry), real estate (brokerage), and restaurants (fast food).

In 1987, after the revolution, with the broadcast industry back to its free state, and with its irresistible call ringing in his ears, Butch made his inevitable comeback and pioneered in a local motoring show, producing Motoring Today on Channel 4 and co-hosting with local motor sports’ living legend Pocholo Ramirez.

After 4 years, he ventured into another pioneering format by producing and hosting Business & Leisure, which was originally aired on ABS-CBN’s Channel 2. The format eventually espoused similar ones in other different channels. But the clones in due course faded away leaving the original staying on airing on Channel 4 and eventually on Shop TV on Sky Cable’s Channel 13.

The following year, the pioneering spirit in Butch spurred him to produce another TV show, Race Weekend, also on Channel 4, covering circuit racing at the Subic International Raceway after the motor sport’s hiatus of 17 years. But when similar shows with duplicated formats sprouted, he decided to give way and ended the program after a year, although still enjoying unparalleled viewership.

In 1998, when the local automotive industry was in a slump, Butch contributed his share to help the ailing industry by producing another popular motoring-related show, this time exclusive to the automobile and its industry—Auto Focus, which became a vehicle for local automotive assemblers and importers to showcase their products and dwell on the industry’s latest technological developments.

In 2003, Butch teamed up with his brother, Rey Gamboa who was a former Shell executive and presently one Philippine Star’s business columnist to co-produce and co-host the TV show Breaking Barriers on Channel 13. It is a talk show that features guests who are in the news and in the middle of controversies. The program ventures to draw deeper insights into current issues to learn how they impact to our daily lives.

Today, Motoring Today on its 28th year of service to the general motoring public still enjoys its unprecedented loyal vierwership nationwide while Auto Focus, after 16 years has firmly established its niche viewership among automobile enthusiasts and on the other hand Business & Leisure is on its 24th year dishing out current business issues and lifestyle features.

Today, aside from writing weekly columns for the Philippine Star (Motoring Today on Wednesdays and Business & Leisure on Saturdays) and executive producer / host of weekly TV shows (Motoring Today, airs Sundays on Solar Sports Channel 70, Business & Leisure, airs Tuesdays on Shop TV, Sky Cable Channel 13 and Auto Focus airs Thursdays on Shop TV, Sky Cable Channel 13, Ray Butch Gamboa is currently the Chairman and CEO of Sunshine Television Production and Marketing Services Corp., President of Gamcor Management and Development Corp., Chairman of Asia-Pacific Realty Corporation, President and Chairman of Socio-Communication Foundation for Asia and Founding Chairman of the Society of Phil. Motoring Journalists (SPMJ)

 

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