Marcos wants battery production in Philippines

WASHINGTON—President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. wants battery manufacturing facilities to be put up in the Philippines to support the local value chain and address the country's energy issues.

At his meeting with US business firms, Marcos said technology and industry participants were needed for the battery facility to materialize.

He told US business executives that the Philippines is low in leveraging its mineral resources as he floated the possibility of producing batteries in the country with the availability of green metals such as cobalt and nickel.

"As I said, we would like to go beyond just the phase of just extracting the minerals and to actually go vertically integrate that entire activity all the way down to actual battery production,” Marcos said.

"Since battery production is now going to be or has become such an important part of our businesses with the advent... of climate change and the Philippines being vulnerable to the effects of climate change," he added.

With the aid of foreign technology and capital, Marcos said local battery production could be a solution for the country's problems when it comes to energy supply.

Marcos said the government has been working to move the Philippines' energy mix from traditional fossil fuels to renewables.

“And the part that batteries will play in that whole system cannot be overstated. And that is why it would be very good if we could bring the industry into the Philippines,” Marcos said.

“But to do that we need technology, we need of course the capital and the resources to undertake such activities. They are not small projects and so they require major funding and that again is another part of the situation that we have to deal with," he added.

During his talk with mining companies, the President said buyers of mineral products insist upon a declaration of proof that the products being sold were built using green energy.

“And that I think is going to be an important part in making hopefully the manufacturing of batteries in the Philippines a success,” he said. —NB, GMA Integrated News