Newgen Electric Technologies Inc. said in a statement that the endorsement letter signed by Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras noted the alignment of the bus company’s plans with the DOE’s own thrust to promote the use of alternative fuel vehicles.

In a recent forum in Cebu, Newgen said Almendras also expressed his support for the electric bus project, as this was expected to spur the creation of a local electric bus-manufacturing industry.

Jan Kierulf, Newgen president, in his capacity as director for research and development at Victory Liner Inc., wrote Almendras in June seeking the DOE’s help in asking the DOF to waive the taxes and duties associated with the importation of an electric bus.

Kierulf said the first bus Newgen wanted to bring into the country would serve as the “proof of concept” for investors who might want to produce electric buses locally.

Investments in the assembly of such buses in the country would not only help boost the use of electric vehicles, but would also pave the way for possible electric bus exports, he said.

Kierulf said locally assembled electric buses could be used to ply selected routes in Metropolitan Manila under a joint program between Newgen partner Victory Liner and the Climate Change Commission.

The program, he said, would help address the Metro Manila’s air pollution problem, as well as help meet the DOE’s goal of reducing the use of fossil fuels in the public transport sector.

“We welcome the DOE’s endorsement of our request to the DOF to waive the taxes and duties on the electric bus that we’d be bringing into the country. We hope the DOF will see the value of our request, as this could possibly give rise to a local electric bus-manufacturing industry that would generate hundreds of new jobs for Filipinos,” Lee Kierulf, Newgen vice president, said.

He added that they also encourage other companies to invest in electric bus manufacturing here.

Kierulf said they wanted to see the Philippines as a key player in the electric bus industry, and not just an importer of already assembled electric buses.

“We have the capability. We just need government support,” he added.

Current duties and taxes on electric and hybrid vehicles account for around 30 percent of their prices, making such vehicles unattractive for either consumer or public transport use.  

Sen. Ralph Recto is pushing for the passage of Senate Bill 2856, or the Electric, Hybrid and Other Alternative Fuel Vehicles Incentives Act, which aims to provide incentives for the manufacture and importation of hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles.

Should this bill pass into law, it would exempt hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles from excise taxes and duties, as well as from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority’s number-coding scheme.

Citing Land Transportation Office records, Recto said there were only 55 hybrid vehicles registered in the country—significantly fewer than the multimillion-peso, gas-guzzling Ferraris currently plying the country’s streets.

The passage of the bill is seen to jack up the sales of hybrid vehicles and encourage the importation of alternative fuel vehicles, such as the electric bus that Newgen will be bringing into the country.