Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ma. Cristina Roque on Tuesday expressed optimism that the proposed Revitalizing the Automotive Industry for Competitiveness Enhancement (RACE) program will be approved and funded this year.

In an interview, Roque said discussions on the program —described as a modified version of the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS)— are ongoing.

"We're hoping for that, definitely," she said, referring to the discussions to be finished this year.

"But I can’t really say when. We need to finish the discussions first."

Both RACE and CARS incentivize investors in the automotive industry that are willing to help revitalize domestic manufacturing of vehicles and vehicle parts.

Of the P5.43 billion set for the CARS program, around P1.44 billion has been released as of 2025.

The P4.23 billion set for this year, which was vetoed as the government strengthens measures against unappropriated allocations, will now be sourced from the budget of the Board of Investments (BOI).

Meanwhile, around P9 billion is being considered for the RACE program, to be disbursed to participating car makers that will locally manufacture around 100,000 units of three specific models of four-wheeled internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle.

This volume is lower than the 200,000 units set for the CARS program.

Initial target is for each investor/participant for the RACE program to be given fiscal support that will not exceed P3 billion each or not over 40 percent of capital expenditure.

Roque said part of the discussion is on where to source the funds since nothing has been allocated for it under this year’s national budget.