The Board of Investments (BOI) said it is keen on granting incentives to manufacturers of eco-friendly and modern
public-utility vehicles (PUVs), such as jeepneys, under an initiative similar to the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) Program.
Trade Undersecretary and BOI Managing Head Ceferino S. Rodolfo said some P9 billion from the unused slot in the CARS Program could be rechanneled to the eco-PUV initiative.
In a chance interview with reporters, Rodolfo confirmed an earlier statement made by Trade Assistant Secretary Rafaelita M. Aldaba that the P27-billion CARS Program will no longer accept an additional participant.
“There’s an interagency committee that’s studying the alternatives for the third slot in CARS. The committee will decide what to do because, technically, the program’s closed now,” Aldaba told the BusinessMirror recently.
Rodolfo said the unused portion of the CARS Program could be used to encourage the production of eco-friendly PUVs, including jeepneys.
“One of the options we’re looking at is this Eco-PUV Program. We’ll see what kind of support the players need in terms of capital equipment, for example,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a news briefing on the first Asean Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Summit.
The Eco-PUV Program is the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) contribution to the Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) PUV modernization program.
Rodolfo said the Eco-Puv Program is “CARS-like”, as it aims to spur domestic auto manufacturing and parts-making.
The CARS Program is a government stimulus program aimed at reviving the country’s declining manufacturing sector by specifically targeting the auto industry, given its strong linkages to other industries and its so-called multiplier effect.
The program provides for government support amounting to P27 billion, or a budget of P9 billion for each enrolled vehicle model.
The Eco-PUV Program, still under discussion, will initially entail the manufacture of standard parts for a uniform public-utility jeep design, the details of which would be determined by the BOI. It also aims to allow local suppliers to provide the parts.
“There’s an important element to the manufacturing process that if the small domestic players can’t supply, let’s say the power train, that’s only when we import and only from selected countries,” Rodolfo said. “We also have a localization component, like the chassis for example, and they have to commit to localize it during a certain period,” he added.
The DTI has recommended the sale of old jeepneys to iron and steel makers who may need scrap metals for their blast furnaces.
‘Cleaner’ vehicles
Members of the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (Evap) said the DOTr’s modernization program, reforms in the taxation system and the support of the BOI would expand the use of “cleaner” vehicles in the Philippines.
Evap President Rommel T. Juan said his group is targeting to take up 10 percent of the 200,000 jeepneys to be phased out by the DOTr under its PUV modernization program.
“The Evap is very active with the PUV modernization program being done by the DOTr, and various other agencies.
There’s a huge number of jeepneys they’re trying to modernize, about 200,000 units in six years,” Juan added at the preevent news briefing on the first Asean Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Summit, which will be held on June 29 and 30.
The DOTr is currently in the process of rolling out a modernization program that aims to phase out by 2020 all jeepneys that are more than 15 years old.
The government wants low-carbon and low-emission PUVs plying Philippine roads and to impose a 15-year limit on jeepneys.
Aside from the BOI’s incentives program for eco-friendly vehicle makers, the Evap members said they are encouraged by the comprehensive tax-reform bill, which exempts electric and hybrid vehicles from excise tax.
The Asean Electric Vehicle and Hybrid Summit will be held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City and will feature 15 local e-vehicle manufacturers, as well as the green models of members of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc.