This is a huge departure from the normal “Acts of God” or “Acts of Nature” provisions that is usually included in standard automotive insurance coverage.

The Christopher Lao incident during Typhoon Ondoy last August has promoted BPI to include this provision into their policies.

The announcement was made thru a new TV commercial which feature Christopher Lao himself.

It’s a classic act and a move that could change how policy-makers look at incurance coverage.

This will definitely send a shockwave to the car industry and will be a huge boost to BPI Auto Loans.

The Nissan GTR Black Edition is almost the same specs as the original GTR but with some minor additions like red-trimmed Recaro seats, red and black interior, and different wheels.

Avanza 2006 – 2011

Camry 1996 – 2003

Camry 2003 – 2006

Camry 2006 – 2011

Corolla 1987 – 1992

Corolla 1992 – 1996

Corolla 1996 – 2003

Corolla Altis 2001 – 2008

Corolla Altis 2008 – 2011

Corona 1989 – 1992

Corona 1992 – 1998

Crown 1991 – 1995

Echo 1998 – 2001

Echo Verso 1998 – 2001

Fortuner 2005 – 2011

HiAce 1999 – 2004

HiAce 2005 – 2011

Hilux 2001 – 2005

Hilux 2005 – 2011

Innova (Diesel) 2005 – 2011

Innova (Gasoline) 2005 – 2011

Land Cruiser 1989 – 1997

Land Cruiser 1998 – 2007

Land Cruiser 2008 – 2011

Land Cruiser Prado 2003 – 2009

Land Cruiser Prado 2009 – 2011

LiteAce 1992 – 1999

Previa 2003 – 2006

Previa2006 – 2011

Prius 2009 – 2011

RAV4 1994 – 2000

RAV4 2000 – 2005

RAV4 2006 – 2011

Revo (Diesel) 1999 – 2004

Revo (Gasoline) 1999 – 2004

Vios 2003 – 2007

Vios 2007 – 2011

Yaris 2007 – 2011

Accord 1998 – 2003

Accord 2003 – 2008

Accord 2008 – 2011

City 1997 – 2003

City 2005 – 2008

City 2009 – 2011

Civic 1996 – 2001

Civic 2001 – 2004

Civic 2004 – 2006

Civic 2006 – 2011

CR-V 1995 – 2002

CR-V 2002 – 2007

CR-V 2007 – 2011

HR-V 1998 – 2002

Jazz 2004 – 2008

Jazz 2008 – 2011

Pilot 2006 -2009

S2000 1999 – 2002

Aveo (5-door) 2004 – 2008:

Aveo 2006 – 2011

Camaro 2010 – 2011

Captiva 2007 – 2011

Cassia 1998 – 2000

Cruze 2010 – 2011

Lumina 2005 – 2007

Optra 2004 – 2007

Optra 2007 – 2009

Savana 1995 – 2000

Silverado 1995 – 2003

Spark 2005 – 2010

Spark new! 2010 – 2011

Suburban 1996 – 2007

Suburban 2007 – 2011

Tahoe 1998 – 2007

Tahoe 2007 – 2011

Trailblazer 2005 – 2008

Venture 2000 – 2007

Zafira 1999 – 2005

Read the full review of the new Nissan Teana here.

The Mazda 2 was once on top of my consideration when I was getting my 3rd car. It’s sub-compact, not too heavy on the gas and the pocket, yet still has that slight semblance of its sporty sibling, the Mazda 3. It was up there on my list together with the Honda Jazz, Honda City and Chevrolet Cruze (though not all are in the same category).

Read full review of the Mazda 2 here.

Bikes are like gadgets for big boys — they’ve got really nice designs, solid construction and great performance — qualities you’d also be looking at other gadgets such as smartphones, tablets and laptops.

At the motor show, I also got to ride a simulation of the new Honda CBR 250 although they didn’t let me start the engine.

I revisited the idea of getting a bike for several reasons — almost the same reasons why I go for ultraportables (like the Mac Air or or the Acer Timeline) instead of the standard and more powerful laptops. It saves on gas and easy to bring along around the city, weaving thru heavy traffic.

The trip also introduced me to people in the motoring beat and got a lot of tips and recommendations from them. I forst intended to get a 2nd hand bike but turns out there’s a 2011 model of the CBR 150. It’s not a cheap “gadget” though — costs an equivalent of 7 or 8 iPads.

I’ve been to several MIAS in Manila before but the one here in Bangkok is much bigger and grander with each car manufacturer trying to out-do each other with big, showy booths.

See this video of the photos I got. These are just the cars and the show girls. I have a separate one for the motorcycles.

P.S. Ford APAC hosted our 4-day stay here which included the Asian unveiling of the Ford Ranger yesterday.

Yesterday, they gave us a sneak peek of the new Ford Ranger although not much details were shared about the Philippine release.

There will be 3 variants — from a 2.2L engine to 2.5L and 3.2L Duratorq TDCi for gas and diesel engines. The Ford Ranger is among the new vehicles that follow the One Ford platform — meaning, the same design/models will be released in all markets from US to Europe and Asia.

Just like the Ford Fiesta we attended last time, the Ford Ranger also offers some hi-tech features like Bluetooth with Voice Control and a Rear-View Camera System.

We didn’t really see much of the interiors yesterday as most of the time were spent doing interviews with executives. We’ll be traveling to the Bangkok Motor Show today (about 1.5hours away from Shangri-la Hotel were we stayed ) so I might get some more free time with the Ranger and other tech stuff they might have on display there.

Here are some of the specs sheet and press release given to me during the launch.

I overheard Ford will be launching the Ranger in the Philippines some time later this year (most probably in December 2011) and won’t be releasing units or pricing information until 1st quarter of the following year. I reckon they still want to sell the remaining inventories of the Ford Ranger before moving to the new model. Really don’t know much about cars but I’m glad to be in the crowd of motoring journalists and learning a lot along the way.