Hybrid vehicles may get tax incentives from gov’t after all

The Philippine government is planning to include hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) in its tax incentives scheme, expanding the scope of its campaign to promote the use of these more environmentally-friendly vehicles as part of its effort to mitigate climate change and lessen pollution in the country.
Energy Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said this during the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Saturday morning news program at the DZBB station, citing this move would help for a faster transition from combustion-engine vehicles to pure electric vehicles.
“There are incentives given to electric vehicles and we are extending it to hybrid as we discussed in the Tariff Commission,” the energy official said.
“Now the direction is to have (hybrid electric vehicles) included because the transition will be faster from using hybrid electric vehicles although we have the option to transition straight to using pure electric vehicles,” he said further.
He noted that this observation is based on inputs from suppliers of electric vehicles (EVs), who told the government that hybrid electric vehicles are more suitable for use in the Philippines compared to pure electric vehicles.