The government is offering 60 billion pesos to carmakers that build EVs here
Executive Order 121 sets aside up to 60 billion pesos for as many as four manufacturers. Each has to put in at least 5 billion pesos of its own and get a locally made model to market within three years.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Executive Order 121 on July 29, creating what the government calls the Electric Vehicle Incentive Strategy, or EVIS. It sets aside up to 60 billion pesos to get carmakers to build electric and hybrid vehicles inside the Philippines instead of shipping them in. The Official Gazette posted the order on Thursday.
The money goes to as many as four manufacturers, capped at 15 billion pesos each. To get in, a company has to commit at least 5 billion pesos in new investment, commit to a production capacity of at least 10,000 units, and put its registered model on the market within three years.
The support comes in two parts. The government covers 40 percent of the capital spending for a full battery electric vehicle and 30 percent for hybrids, plug-in hybrids and fuel cell models. On top of that is a payment for each unit produced, worth up to 12 percent of the factory price before dealer markup, but never more than 200,000 pesos per vehicle.
Nobody receives cash. Qualified manufacturers get tax payment certificates, which are vouchers they can use to settle national taxes and import duties. The Board of Investments runs the program alongside the finance, energy, transportation and budget departments.
Why it matters
Almost every electric car on Philippine roads today was built somewhere else. In his State of the Nation Address on July 27, Marcos said the goal is for half the country's vehicles to be electric by 2040, and that tariffs on EVs stay at zero until 2028 to hold prices down. Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro said the order is about jobs: engineers, technicians, factory workers, logistics staff and local suppliers, if the plants actually get built here.
The catch to watch
The 60 billion pesos is a ceiling, not money already handed out. The order ties the spending to what the yearly national budget allows. There is also a gap between assembling a car here and building a real local parts industry, because a plant can still import most of what it bolts together. The clearest test is whether anyone signs up. Top Gear Philippines reports that Mitsubishi Motors Philippines earlier said it aims to build a hybrid at its Santa Rosa plant, with production targeted for 2028.