President Marcos has ordered government agencies to expedite the implementation of action plans and strategies to develop the electronic vehicle (EV) industry in the country.
Marcos made the directive during a sectoral meeting on Tuesday, April 30, emphasizing the need to focus on the public transportation sector.
The President has instructed the Department of Energy (DOE) and other concerned agencies to study the integration of the EV industry "so that we can strengthen the local manufacturing of electric vehicles and supporting battery charging mechanisms."
This, he added, also aims to encourage the electrification of the public transportation sector.
Moreover, Marcos also wants the government agencies to focus on supporting the acquisition of electric vehicles by commercial fleets like government or private company cars, and public transportation fleets.
"Because by focusing on the fleets, we will make battery charging and the maintenance simpler and more efficient," Malacañang said.
According to Energy Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella, as of 2023, there is only .001 percent or 7,000 electric vehicles registered out of the 14,300,000 registered vehicles.
"And we are not only looking into the technology but the President also wants us to focus on achieving the numbers by looking at fleet or the group approach, looking at the consumer experience and identifying iyong mga bumubukol na (the swelling) financing," Fuentebella said in a Palace briefing on Tuesday.
"So nandoon iyong mga concerns na pinapatutukan ni Presidente sa amin (So those are the concerns that the President wants us to focus on). And not only the fleet, not only the financing, but it’s also the infrastructure kung saan ilalagay iyong mga (where to put the) electric vehicle charging stations," he added.
The Energy official said in order to develop the EV industry in the country, they are focusing on four pillars —the electric vehicle demand generation, the manufacturing side of it, the research and development utilizing natural resources, and the human resource development.
The push for electronic vehicles in the country is among the measures of the government to uphold the Philippines' commitment under the Paris Agreement.
In October last year, Marcos said "if we aim to fulfill our pledge to the Paris Agreement, we need to boost the share of electric vehicles in the total projected vehicle fleet nationwide."
He said it was also timely given the volatility of oil products in the world market.