ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Business devider Trade & Industry devider Car brands show 'serious interest' in Philippine EV program

Car brands show 'serious interest' in Philippine EV program

Published Apr 10, 2026 09:57 pm
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is seeing surge of interest from global automotive manufacturers looking to tap into the government’s forthcoming incentive program aimed at establishing the country as a regional hub for electric vehicle (EV) production.
Trade Undersecretary and Board of Investments (BOI) Managing Head Ceferino Rodolfo said “there are a number of seriously interested investors” that have already conveyed their intent to apply for the Electric Vehicle Incentive Strategy (EVIS).
While he did not disclose the names of these companies, Rodolfo said another automotive firm is now engaged in serious discussions with the government regarding its potential participation in the EVIS.
Earlier, Japanese automotive giant Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (MMC) announced plans to produce a new hybrid EV model at its Laguna plant by 2028, subject to approval of its entry into the EVIS.
Rodolfo said the executive order (EO), which outlines the program’s framework, is still being finalized and is expected to be issued within the first half of the year.
He said discussions are ongoing on the incentives that would be granted to automotive firms in exchange for investing in EV manufacturing in the country.
The number of slots for the program and the corresponding fiscal support are still being worked out, he said.
“There had been consultations, including on the package support, to gauge what level would really be needed by investors,” Rodolfo said in a Viber message.
Rodolfo earlier sought the Department of Justice's (DOJ) legal opinion on whether EVIS's incentive framework should mirror the guidelines of the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) program.
In a legal opinion dated March 5, the DOJ said the EVIS “does not need to mirror the CARS program in its entirety,” since the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act (EVIDA) only requires the program to be similar and not necessarily identical.
As such, the DOJ said the BOI may use any incentive mechanism, including a tax credit certificate (TCC), instead of the tax payment certificate (TPC) scheme used in the CARS program.
Under the CARS program, the government provided fiscal support to participating companies that produced at least 200,000 units of their enrolled vehicle model within six years.
The incentives provided to CARS participants are in the form of TPCs, which are used to settle their tax and duty obligations.
The government earlier planned to launch the Revitalizing the Automotive Industry for Competitiveness Enhancement (RACE) program, the successor to CARS, to attract investments in the production of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in the country.
Trade Secretary Cristina Roque said the government will no longer pursue the RACE program and will instead proceed directly to EVIS, especially as EV adoption is on the rise due to surging fuel prices caused by the Middle East conflict.
As indicated in EVIDA, EVIS aims to narrow the cost gap between EVs and traditional motor vehicles, enabling a shift in local industry to EVs.
Apart from manufacturing EVs, the incentive program also aims to attract investments in EV parts manufacturing and other strategic components, as well as batteries, charging stations, and the establishment of testing facilities.

Related Tags

electric vehicle incentive strategy (EVIS) electric vehicles (EVs) Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.