Trade and Industry Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo on Monday assured investors that measures are now being considered for the payment of arrearages under the Comprehensive Automotive Resurgence Strategy (CARS) program.
This, after the fiscal support for this program, amounting to PHP4.32 billion, was vetoed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. from the PHP6.793-trillion 2026 national budget, which he signed Monday morning.
This item is among those vetoed as the government tightens allocation for unprogrammed appropriations.
Rodolfo, who heads the Board of Investments (BOI), in a statement, said “we fully respect the decision of the President.”
“We understand the context of his overall decision on Unprogrammed Appropriations. And to our investors, we firmly assure that we are already working with other Agencies, principally the DBM (Department of Budget and Management), in identifying a mechanism to ensure payment of CARS arrearages especially as these had been based on validated delivery of performance commitments and on a robust and transparent inter-agency process of vetting claims against the CARS Program,” she said.
The government, under the CARS program, provides participating automotive firms with fixed investment support and production volume incentives.
To date, the government has released PHP1.44 billion of the PHP5.43-billion budget. (With a report from Joann Villanueva/PNA)
