Senate Bill 2856 sponsored by Senator Ralph Recto calls for fiscal incentives to be given by the government to importers, manufacturers and users of Alternative Fuel Vehicles (AFV). In his sponsorship speech he pointed out the irony that Alternative Fuel Vehicles were much more expensive to buy than traditional fossil fuel powered vehicles. Which could be attributed to the high cost of the technology because of the low adoption rate (because of its high selling price) and because of the taxes imposed on the said vehicles which does not differentiate between traditional vehicles and AFV’s.

AFV’s were defined as those being powered by non-traditional fossil fuel sources such as electricity, natural gas, etc or those using hybrid technology which uses both electricity and gasoline to run.
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The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) announced that 2 electric jeepneys have started ferrying passengers around their 37 hectare ARMM complex.

Purchased at a price of P650,000 each. The e-jeepneys can carry 14 passengers and has a top speed of 35 kilometers per hour. The e-jeepneys of ARMM have 12 batteries that can run for 8 hours and need a 4 hour charge to top off.
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DOE said that they are in support of giving incentives to the electric vehicle industry in order to encourage investment in it. Tax perks was one of the support items mentioned, but according to them that this will still be subject to the approval of other government agencies.
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Kasangga party-list Rep. Teodorico Haresco filed a bill entitled E-Vehicle Road User’s Tax Exemption Act of 2010 that seeks to exempt electric vehicles from having to pay the yearly road users tax upon the yearly re-registration of their vehicle.

The Motor Vehicles User’s Tax, (RA 8794), replaced the motor vehicles’ registration fee paid yearly by motorists. Funds from this tax will be used for road maintenance and improved road drainage, installation of traffic lights and road safety devices, and for air pollution control.
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They say electric cars are good for the environment because they don’t consume fossil fuels that expel CO2 into the atmosphere. Of course the ideal use of electric vehicles is in tandem with charging the electric vehicle from renewable energy sources, otherwise the energy and CO2 you saved with not gassing up just increases the demand to the fossil fuel based powerplant to burn more fuel in order to generate electricity for charging.
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The e-jeepney has once again been featured in the local news as it is being promoted in the city of Makati. As one of the primary business districts of the Philippines it would do well to adapt the e-jeepney in Makati for public transport in order to reduce the city’s overall pollution and carbon emissions.
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