MANILA: The Motorcycle Development Program Participants Association Incorporation’s (MDPPA) newest set of officers have been hailed.

In a ceremony held at Makati Diamond Residence Hotel in Makati, the executives of the association of country's motorcycle manufacturers Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, and recently, TVS, were inducted into office.

Department of Trade and Industry Undersecretary for the Industry Development Group (IDG) Ceferino Rodolfo inducted into office Kawasaki Motor Philippines Corporation’s Alexander Cumpas as the new MDPPA president, replacing Norminio Mojica of Suzuki Philippines (SPH), who had a three-year stint as the group helm.

Aside from Cumpas, Erwin Estrada of Honda Philippines Incorporated (HPI) was hailed as the new group vice president, Gilbert Bilagantol of Yamaha Motor Philippines (YMPH) as treasurer, and Mojica, as MDPPA auditor.

Further, Rodolfo also welcomed the new MDPPA committee chairmen namely Toni Boi Acuesta (YMPH) for Marketing, Michael Lopez (KMPC) for Road Safety, Andrew Angeles (HPI) for Technical, and Lissete Fajardo (SPH) for Government.

The latest induction ceremony is the first in face-to-face ceremony after five years — the 2021 ceremony conducted online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mojica expressed his full support to the new president. Cumpas, in turn, expressed his gratitude towards the gesture.

For his part, the newly-minted president vowed to continue the efforts done by the group and further focus on the proactive involvement and participation in policy formulation and international commitments; sustained and coordinated road safety promotion; heightened publicity on MDPPA; proactive approach on Electric Vehicle industry development and membership expansion.

“The theme for the induction 'Moving forward beyond the current challenges' is not only a rallying cry but an apt description of what will ignite us to more action. It sparks our fire to continue delivering the results despite the current challenges and post-pandemic economic uncertainties. 'Rising above and beyond' was our previous battle cry, which we did so with flying colors by the previous Board and all its committees, through the leadership of President Mojica” Cumpas said.

Following the plan to add more members in the group, Cumpas told Zigwheels Philippines in an interview that the MDPPA is planning to recruit around six brands to join the association.

While he did not directly identify the targeted members, he revealed that the eyed distributors carry European and Chinese brands.

While expansion is the goal, Cumpas noted that those who are willing to join the MDPPA will have to undergo scrutiny of the group’s membership committee.

There are two types of membership under the MDPPA: regular. To be a regular member, a distributor must have a manufacturing facility in the country with at least one year of production, among others.

Photos from Ruben Manahan IV, Motorcycle Development Program Participants Association Incorporation

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