Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri filed on Wednesday a bill seeking to provide incentives to the manufacture, sale, and importation of hybrid vehicles to reduce the country’s dependence on imported oil and to provide a more environmentally-friendly alternative to fossil fuel.

Zubiri, an agriculturist, said his measure, Senate Bill 3397, encouraged public support for the development of the hybrid car industry in line with the government’s ‘’alternative fuels program.’’

‘’With the continuing rise of fuel cost and the imminent decline of extractable world oil deposit, the demand for alternative transportations is expanding,’’ Zubiri said.

“Hybrid vehicles not only provide better fuel economy that result in added savings for consumers but also offer lower greenhouse gasses emissions,” he added.

The bill proposes that any individual, business partnership or corporation engage in the manufacturing, selling or importation of fuel-saving hybrid cars, including its parts, be exempted from import duties, customs, tariff duties, and excise, value added tax and ad valorem taxes.

It also sought the creation of an Inter-Agency Council that would regulate and control the grant of tax exemptions to the manufacturers, sellers or distributors and importers of hybrid cars based on the conditions and regulations which the council would later set up.