PBBM witnesses signing of deal to establish e-motorcycles in PH

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Monday (Washington, D.C. time) witnessed the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc. of the Ayala Group and California-based Zero Motorcycles on a strategic manufacturing collaboration on electric motorcycles.

In a news update released by the Presidential Communications Office, the cooperation agree- ment has a projected amount of USD65 million to support the Philippines’ development of its electric vehicle ecosystem.

The US-based company will take the lead in establishing the first electronic vehicle (EV) motorcycle manufacturing site in the Philippines.

IMI, for its part, will assemble Zero’s electric motorcycle models as well as other assemblies in its facility in Laguna in conjunction with the manufacturing facilities

Consumers of financial products and services now have greater protection following the issuance of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 11765, otherwise known as the Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act (FCPA).

This, following the approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) en banc, during its meeting last April 25, of the IRR which will take effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette or at least two major dailies.

tection of consumer assets against fraud and misuse, to data privacy and protection, and to timely handling and redress of complaints of consumers.” for Zero in California.

“In turn, the IRR reinforces the commission’s mandate of, and unwavering commitment to, protecting financial consumers, and inculcating in financial service providers the values of fairness, transparency, accountability and ethics,” he said.

The IMI-Zero operations are expected to employ 200 workers for its assembly line, from manufacturing, packing and shipping 18,000 EVs per year.

During the meeting, Zero said the Philippines is a “clear choice” for its operations as the firm aims to globalize its manufacturing business, targeting Europe, Asia and other markets, while supporting US demands for sub-assemblies.

The memorandum states that the IRR “shall apply to all financial products and services, and financial services providers”, with the latter pertaining to, among others, the issuers of securities; securities brokers, dealers, and salesmen, investment houses, and firms offering similar services; financing and lending companies; and microfinance-non government organizations (MF-NGOs).

In a statement Monday, SEC chairperson Emilio Aquino said “true to the objectives of the FCPA, the IRR advances financial consumers’ right to equitable and fair treatment, to disclosure and transparency in the marketing of financial products and services, to pro-

The commission said the IRR and the FCPA “reinforces the powers of the SEC to exercise authority over issuers of securities in tokenized or digital forms.”

It said the IRR also increased the enforcement actions allowed for the commission, and these include preventing the financial service providers from collecting exorbitant fees or unreasonable interest fees or charges and issuance of writs of execution, attachment, levy and garnishment.

The rules also allowed the commission to provide efficient and effective consumer redress or complaints handling mechanisms like mediation and conciliation and may adjudicate actions as a result of financial transactions that are civil in nature.