Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
The Department of Energy (DOE) on Monday pushed for a faster rollout of electric vehicles (EVs) in the Philippines to help motorists veer away from the traditional types of transportation and reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels.
“The shift to EVs is expected to reduce the country’s dependence on imported fuel and to promote cleaner and energy-efficient transport technologies,” the DoE said in a statement.
The department aims to roll out around 2,454,200 EVs including cars, tricycles and motorcycles, among others, to help save the environment and generate investments for a new industry by 2028.
The call of the Energy department is in support of the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act’s (EVIDA) initiative of “creating an enabling environment for the development of the EV industry in the country.”
To promote the electrification of transport, several types of EVs have been given tax breaks under Executive Order No. 12 series of 2023. However, the EO did not include e-motorcycles in the tax breaks, which drew the ire of several stakeholders of the industry who said that the majority of Filipinos use motorcycles.
Philippine Business for Environmental Stewardship Secretary General Felix Jose Vitangcol sought the revision of the EO to help Filipinos shift to green technology amid the soaring prices of gasoline.
“Only more affluent Filipinos, indeed a limited segment of the population, can afford to buy four-wheel vehicles and hence enjoy these incentives. This is why the government must make these tax incentives more inclusive,” Vitangcol said.
EO12 will be up for mandatory review next year. It is expected that NEDA will recommend the amendment of the presidential order to include e-motorcycles in the import tax incentives.
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