Marcos reveals open e-vehicle market strategy to accelerate PUVMP

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced the government's commitment to keeping the electric vehicle market open to speed up the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program.

In a meeting with top executives from VinGroup Company of Vietnam in Hanoi on Monday, Marcos emphasized the government's decision not to rely on a single supplier.

He welcomed VinGroup's interest to expand its operations to the Philippines, specifically in the production of electric vehicle (EV) batteries. 

“The Vingroup is well-known in the Philippines because we have… we are very much aligned of what we would like to do in the future in terms of electrical vehicle battery production,” Marcos said.

According to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), Vingroup's subsidiary Vinfast is registering in the Philippines to explore partnerships in electric vehicle (EV) marketing, energy storage and nickel processing.

Vingroup is a multi-sector corporation, specializing in technology, industry, trade, services and social enterprise, the PCO added.

The president said that Vingroup's entry into the Philippines aligns with the ongoing modernization program for public utility vehicles, especially jeepneys and tricycles.

"We are in the middle of our modernization program, essentially meaning we are going to replace all our conveyances, buses, and we have a particular type of transport... jeepneys," Marcos said.

During a meeting with Vingroup executives, led by Chairman Pham Nhat Vuong and Nguyen Viet Quang, Vice Chairman and CEO, Marcos said that the specifications for these vehicles are being finalized, while the government is actively consolidating operators and drivers into cooperatives.

Last week, Marcos approved the Department of Transportation's proposal to extend the consolidation deadline for jeepneys and UV Express units, providing drivers and operators an extra three months until April 30, 2024.

The president's decision follows a sequence of transport strikes, protests and a Supreme Court petition organized by transport groups in response to the government's initial deadline of Dec. 31, 2023  for drivers and operators to consolidate into cooperatives and corporations.