Group hails passage of alternative-fuel vehicles bill

The Electric Vehicle Industry Association of the Philippines (EVAP) hailed the passage of Senate Bill 2856, which seeks to provide incentives such as lower tariffs and fee exemptions for “the manufacture, assembly, conversion and importation of electric, hybrid and other alternative fuel vehicles.” The group said that the measure would expand the Philippine market for electric and hybrid vehicles. SB 2856, or the Electric, Hybrid and other Alternative Fuel Vehicles Incentives Act of 2011, was passed on third and final reading by the Senate on January 28. The House version of the bill, HB 5460, was approved nearly a year ago. It is now awaiting approval in the bicameral conference. The new law “is an important shot-in-the-arm measure that will energize the industry’s growth momentum, which shall incentivize the technology providers to infuse the needed technology in the Philippine manufacturing set up,” the EVAP said in a statement over the weekend. The measure, added the group, “will lure investors to choose the Philippines as a more viable country in the region [for manufacturing alternative-fuel vehicles].” — BM, GMA News