THE Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP) is backing moves to give incentives for electric motorcycles along with their localized production in the future.
In an interview, EVAP president Edmund Araga said giving incentives to e-motorcycles is welcome as it will help with the electrification of the transport industry in the country.
Araga made the response when asked regarding the statement of the Department of Trade and Industry saying that EVAP requested to retain the tariff for e-jeepneys and e-tricycles.
He affirmed their request but said e-motorcycles were not included in their request to retain the tariff as there are no local producers of them yet.
The Philippine government In January released Executive Order No. 12 series of 2023 which gives EVs and their components tax breaks for the next five years with the exclusion of e-motorcycles as they are still subject to a 30 percent tariff rate.
“It will be welcome on our part kung bibigyan din sila [e-motorcycles] kung mabibigyan din sila ng exception. Kasi sa ngayon, wala pa talagang legit na makakagawa sa amin ng e-motorcycles, in particular. And that this would be a good opportunity…kung sakaling ipu-push ang e-motorcycles (if they will exempt e-motorcycles. This will be a good opportunity to encourage local producers), ” Araga said.
“Kung mag-iimport sila [dapat] mayroong direksyon o directives na maglolocalize sila in a number of years after importing the units para magkaroon naman ng job creations and the capabilities of Filipino craftmanship and skills, ma-enhance (If they are going to import, there should be an incentive to go local after a few years after importing the units so we can create jobs and enhance the craftmanship capability skills of Filipinos),” Araga said.
Araga said that he also supports this move as motorcycles are the primary choice of transport among Filipinos because they are relatively more affordable than four-wheeled vehicles.
According to the Statista Research Department, there are around 7.81 million registered motorcycles and tricycles, compared to the 1.27 million registered private cars in the country as of 2022.
The government is set to review EO12 by February 2024 to be led by the National Economic Development Authority.
