What P60 billion buys
EVIS should issue certificates only after targets are met, while the government should fund them on time.
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EVIS should issue certificates only after targets are met, while the government should fund them on time.
Sixty billion pesos can buy a great many cars, although no motorist will receive a free EV under the government’s new Electric Vehicle Incentive Strategy (EVIS).
Executive Order 121 sets that amount as the ceiling for fiscal support to companies that manufacture electric vehicles and components in the Philippines.
The government will issue non-transferable Tax Payment Certificates that qualified companies can use for certain national taxes and import duties.
No one can drive a tax certificate home, but it still has a public cost.
In simple terms, the program helps companies cover part of the cost of setting up EV production and gives them more support as they build more vehicles. Each company can register up to two models, and each model can receive no more than P15 billion.
Applicants must commit at least P5 billion in new investment and introduce a “locally manufactured” electric vehicle within three years.
I placed “locally manufactured” inside quotation marks because it can mean different things. One company may assemble mostly imported parts, while another may use local suppliers and perform more engineering work here.
EVIS should give more support to companies that do more of the work in the Philippines.
Mitsubishi could provide an early test because, subject to approval of its application, it plans to produce a new hybrid model in Santa Rosa around the middle of 2028.
Reports say its proposed investment of at least P7 billion would begin with battery assembly before vehicle production is added.
However, assembling battery packs is not the same as producing battery cells. A pack combines cells with its casing, cooling system and electronic controls, while cell production requires different equipment and processes.
I saw the same difference when I worked at SunPower. Our factory received silicon ingots, which were sliced into wafers and processed into solar cells before they were assembled into panels. We did not simply import finished cells.
The zero-tariff policy covers many imported battery electric and hybrid vehicles until 2028, which gives buyers more choices but makes local factories compete with larger overseas plants. EVIS should help them build enough vehicles to compete without relying on incentives forever.
Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) used the same tax certificates for the Vios and Mirage. When funding for its arrears was left out of the 2026 budget, the government had to assure manufacturers that valid claims would be paid.
EVIS should issue certificates only after targets are met, while the government should fund them on time.
Companies will hesitate to commit billions of pesos if support they have already earned can be delayed, which could also slow the local production that EVIS is meant to encourage.
Car buyers will not receive the tax certificates, although they may benefit if higher production lowers factory costs.
Motorists should not read the P60 billion as a discount fund, however, because manufacturers still decide whether those savings reach the retail price.
By the time the last tax certificates are used, the factories should be doing more than final assembly and should be able to keep running without further support.
That is what P60 billion ought to buy.
