Motorcycle group calls for incentives on local production of electric vehicles

MANILA, Philippines – The Motorcycle Development Program Participants Association (MDPPA) called on the government to incentivize the production of motorcycles to balance the playing field with the anticipated grant of tax breaks for electric vehicles.

The group said it supports the giving of incentives to electric vehicles (EVs) but it stressed that the government should protect local production.

It said that while they welcome the electrification of transport along with the introduction of e-motorcycles in the country, it is also important to incentivize local production.

"What we strive to achieve is a level playing field, between domestic production of ICE [internal combustion engine] motorcycles, and the tariff-exempted importation of EV, while our country is in the process of electrification," MDPPA said in a statement.

E-motorcycles were excluded under Executive Order No.12 series of 2023 which gives tax breaks to EVs and their components for the next five years to promote their use among Filipinos.

Under the executive issuance, different types of EVs with around 30% tariff got their taxes reduced to zero.

The National Economic Development Agency (NEDA) said that the inclusion of e-motorcycle in the list of EVs with tax breaks will be up for deliberation by February 2024.

MDPPA and the Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP) initially lobbied for the inclusion of e-jeepneys and e-tricycles in the EO to protect local production, according to the Department of Trade and Industry.

The DTI also initially endorsed a version of the EO where all types of EVs will receive tax incentives.

Various stakeholders of the EV industry have also aired their support to giving incentives to e-motorcycles to help address environmental issues, electrify transport, and create a local industry for EVs as the use motorcycles is the most popular means of transportation in the country.

EVAP President Edmund Araga said that the organization supports giving incentives to e-motorcycles as there are no local producers yet.

The president of the think tank Stratbase ADR Institute, Prof. Dindo Manhit, believes that the revision and inclusion of e-motorcycles in the tax break will help Filipinos choose EVs and help the government in its goal toward sustainable transportation.