Press Release
May 5, 2011

Shift to E-cars inevitable amid skyrocketing oil prices
Senate bill rolls out tax breaks, number-coding pass & parking privilege
to electric-hybrid vehicles

Sen. Ralph G. Recto yesterday said there's no choice but to shift to harnessing electric energy to power up engines of transport vehicles to finally end the country's overdependence on expensive but fast-depleting oil.

"Other countries like Israel and China are already declaring freedom from petroleum dependence in the next three or four decades, we want to start the ball rolling by paving the way for a legislation that would fast track our shift to E-vehicles," Recto, chair of Senate ways and means, said.

"With soaring oil prices and with a downstream oil industry that can't be trusted with its price hike computations, there's really no recourse but to go electric to save oil money and save the environment," he added.

The senator batted for the shift to E-transport anew after oil companies raised again pump prices of gasoline on Tuesday by P1.40 to P1.50 per liter.

Recto said his committee will soon report out to the plenary a consolidated measure that would roll out tax incentives to people or groups which will import, convert, manufacture or assemble the pioneering fleet of electric vehicles in the country, including hybrid and other motor vehicles using alternative fuel.

Electric Vehicle refers to any vehicle that uses electric motors; Hybrid Vehicle (HV) will refer to any vehicle that combines the technologies of using internal combustion engine (ICE) with a battery-powered electric motor while Other Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) would be any vehicle using alternative sources of energy such as but not limited to: solar, wind, hydrogen fuel cell, compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), other than conventional sources of energy like petroleum and gasoline for propulsion.

Recto said E-vehicle proponents will be exempt from paying excise taxes and VAT for nine years to bring down the cost of importing and converting E-vehicles and their hybrid types, which should result to lower sticker price or dealer's price for consumers.

Recto said the draft committee report on the consolidated measure likewise provides other "incentives" to the developing E-motor vehicle industry such as exemption from the Motor Vehicle User's Charge and from color/number's coding to ensure all-week driving.

The senator said "non-tax" incentives include special priority lane for E-vehicle owners and operators when registering or renewing E-vehicles with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and mandatory provision of parking facilities in every future commercial and public establishments.

Recto said under the proposed measure now being finalized for plenary approval, the LTO would issue special license plates to E-vehicle types while no building permit would be issued to business owners whose parking blueprints do not have a specially designated area for E-vehicles.

The senator was also joined as co-authors by Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, and Antanio Trillanes IV who have filed similar measures on the matter.

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