Group urges tariff body to broaden EV incentives

A CITIZEN advocacy group has called on the Tariff Commission “to act with urgency” on the Department Of Energy’s (DOE) recommendation to include two-and three-wheeled vehicles in an executive order providing incentives to the importation of electric vehicles.

Lawyer and former congressman Christopher Belmonte, co- convenor of CitizenWatch Philippines, said while the EO covering four-wheeled electric vehicles is already commendable.

“It has to expand to cover other vehicles that are more affordable to maximize the full impact of green transport options to the Filipino public.

“This will certainly accelerate the shift away from air-polluting vehicles and provide an even better mobility experience to the people,” Belmonte said.

Electric vehicles, being new technology that is not yet in the mainstream, may come at prices beyond the purchasing power of ordinary Filipinos even if they shift to environment-friendly commuting, and even if they are clearly starved for efficient transport options given the sorry state of public transportation in the country.

“Most importantly, the soaring price of fuel has made many Filipinos suffer,” Belmonte said.

“The government has to do its part by enabling the people to make this shift, by making it easier for them to own electric vehicles,” he said.

EO 12 series of 2023, signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last January 13, invokes Republic Act 11697 or the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act that says the State to provide an enabling environment that permits the development electric vehicles, including options for micro-mobility as an attractive and feasible mode of transportation.