PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., made a strong pitch for the country being pro-environment as he expressed openness to electric vehicles and components

With the government looking to finish the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) as quickly as possible, Marcos said that they will leave the market open for such products.

The president made the statement with the Vingroup Company in Hanoi, Vietnam as part of his two-day state visit there. 

“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. 

“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 added. 

He also told Vingroup executives, led by Chairman Pham Nhat Vuong and Vice Chairman and CEO Nguyen Viet Quang, that they are finalizing the specifications for those vehicles.

Likewise, the president mentioned that the government is in the process of consolidating the operators and drivers into cooperatives.

Days before leaving for Vietnam, Marcos approved the recommendation of Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista to give unconsolidated jeepneys three more months, or until April 30, 2024, to join or put up transportation cooperatives or corporations for the modernization program. 

The deadline ended on December 31, 2024 and was followed by a monthlong grace period, or until January 31, 2024.