President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Wednesday made a pitch to American businessmen the plan of the Philippines to pursue local battery production, with the help of foreign technology and capital, as a solution for the country’s problems in energy supply and other energy-related issues.

During a fireside chat at the Blair House in Washington with US businessmen, Marcos underscored the great potential of local battery production as the government endeavors to move the Philippines’ energy mix from traditional fossil fuels to renewables.

“And the part that batteries will play in that whole system cannot be overstated. And that is why it would be very good if we could bring the industry into the Philippines,” Marcos said, adding that battery production is an important pivot for the country with the advent of climate change.

He said for the country to go beyond mineral extraction to actual battery production to prop up the local value chain, technology and strong industry participation are needed to see this materialize.

“But to do that we need technology, we need of course the capital and the resources to undertake such activities. They are not small projects and so they require major funding and that again is another part of the situation that we have to deal with,” he said.

Marcos said there are many new instruments that encouraged this activity in the last few years such as green bonds and blue bonds and current rules have become very, very clear.

In his talks with big companies, especially mining companies, Marcos said buyers of mineral products insist upon declaration of proof that the products that they are being sold were built using green energy.

“And that I think is going to be an important part in making hopefully the manufacturing of batteries in the Philippines a success,” he said. (PNA)