The Board of Investments (BOI) is targeting an October rollout of the Electric Vehicle Incentive Strategy (EVIS) Program, the ₱60-billion fiscal incentive package meant to draw large-scale EV manufacturing investments into the Philippines.
For Filipino consumers, the timeline matters because EVIS is designed to bring EV production onshore, which the government argues will eventually lower prices and expand the range of electric and hybrid models built for the local market rather than imported. It also arrives as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) weighs whether to extend the zero-tariff policy on imported EVs, a separate but related decision that will shape vehicle prices in the meantime.
BOI Industry Development Services Executive Director Ma. Corazon Dichosa said the agency is working to release the EVIS implementing rules and regulations (IRR) this month. The draft rules are currently with the Inter-Agency Committee on Electric Vehicle Industry Development, composed of the BOI and the departments of Finance, Energy, Transportation, and Budget and Management. Once approved, the rules take effect immediately, which BOI officials say would allow the agency to open applications for the program as early as October.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Executive Order No. 121 on July 29, formally establishing EVIS under the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act (Republic Act No. 11697). The program had earlier been approved by the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) on May 18.
Under EVIS, qualified manufacturers can register up to two EV models and access two forms of support: Fixed Investment Support (FIS), which reimburses up to 40 percent of eligible capital expenditure for battery EVs and their components (30 percent for hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell EVs), and a Production Volume Incentive (PVI) worth up to 12 percent of a vehicle’s ex-factory price, capped at ₱200,000 per unit. Incentives are capped at ₱15 billion per enrolled model and are issued as nontransferable Tax Payment Certificates rather than direct cash, usable to offset income tax, value-added tax, excise tax, and import duties.
To qualify, applicants must commit at least ₱5 billion in new investment, launch production of the registered model within three years, and meet a minimum production capacity of 10,000 vehicles. Manufacturers must also submit an after-sales support plan covering battery disposal or recycling and spare parts availability for at least ten years. If applications exceed available funding, the government will select up to four manufacturers based on investment size, production plans, economic impact, job creation, and compliance with vehicle standards.
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. has already signaled plans to manufacture a new hybrid model in the Philippines, contingent on EVIS approval, at its Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. plant in Santa Rosa, Laguna. Trade officials have said other automotive players are also considering EV manufacturing facilities in the country, though details have not been disclosed.
The BOI will serve as lead implementing agency once the IRR takes effect, with the interagency committee overseeing registration, monitoring compliance, and auditing participants.
