WASHINGTON, D.C.

—President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. wants the Philippines to go beyond mineral extraction, and venture to producing batteries locally. President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (Photo courtesy of Malacañang)
The country, however, would need technology and strong industry participation for the vision to materialize. "As I said, we would like to go beyond just the phase of just extracting the minerals and to actually go vertically integrate that entire activity all the way down to actual battery production,” Marcos told US businessmen during a fireside chat at the Blair House on Wednesday. “Since battery production is now going to be or has become such an important part of our businesses with the advent again we always come across this issue with the advent of climate change and the Philippines being vulnerable to the effects of climate change," Marcos added. The President told the Americans that the Philippines was low in leveraging its mineral resources, and floated the possibility of producing batteries in the country with the availability of green metals such as cobalt and nickel. He further noted that the country only needed technology, capital and the resources to undertake such activities. "They are not small projects and so they require major funding and that again is another part of the situation that we have to deal with," he said. “And the part that batteries will play in that whole system cannot be overstated. And that is why it would be very good if we could bring the industry into the Philippines,” he added.