By Joe Ferreria, Automobile Association of the Philippines president
I was introduced to custom shops that produce special automobile parts in the early 70s. The family sedan was a Fiat 500, a small runabout manufactured by Ysmael Steel. The company is long gone so when the car broke down, we had to source the parts from suppliers that are not listed in the yellow pages. In particular, the rear drive axle would break and a special welding shop that uses brass rods or a machine shop that could craft a new axle from a block of steel was our recourse.
I narrated this because in the recent Senate hearing on classic cars, the Vintage Vehicles Regulation Act, one of the resource persons was the one in charge of restoring the cars of former presidents of the Philippines. He said that the reason why some of the cars are in a state of disrepair was because these custom shops could not be accredited by the government in Phil GEPS (Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System.) Consequently, even if they could produce the parts, the government could not pay them for it because of these documentation issues.
This is just one of the problems of getting into the restoration and maintenance of legacy vehicles. In fact, Senator Zubiri during the hearing narrated a personal experience where he found it impossible to even register one of the classic vehicles he restored because the original owners of the vehicle could not be located anymore. No record of the provenance of the car was in the records of government. These barn finds, though restored, will remain in the garages of those interested enough to invest time and money to bring them back to their original state.
When asked for my comments as the president of AAP, one of the things I said was that aside from the issues brought up by car owners, the law should also take into consideration the impact it would have on custom part manufacturers. These are typically small mom-and-pop operations that use manual labor in their operations. I opined that incentives for these small shops should be enacted by government to foster their growth with a view to developing the industry into something that can be an export-oriented business. Today, most replica parts are imported from Taiwan, which recognized the potential of this industry and took advantage of it by supporting the small manufacturers.
The new law which emanated from Congress and is now being finalized in the Senate for the signature of the President has been revised.
The bill itself is quite lengthy so I will only quote the first two sections which capture the spirit of the law.
Senate Bill 2402 House Bill 9884
“Draft Substitute Bill on Vintage Vehicle Regulation Act
AN ACT REGULATING THE USE AND OTHER ACTIVITIES RELATED TO VINTAGE AUTOMOBILES AND OTHER HISTORICAL, CLASSIC, OR COLLECTOR MOTOR VEHICLES, AND PROVIDING FOR THEIR EXEMPTION FROM THE STANDARDS AND RESTRICTIONS SET BY LAWS, [ENACTED] AND REGULATIONS
[ADOPTED] ISSUED AFTER THE DATE OF THEIR MANUFACTURE
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:
SECTION 1. Short Title. – This Act shall be known as the “Vintage Vehicle Regulation Act”.
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. – Section 14 Article XIV of the Constitution declares that the State shall foster the preservation, enrichment, and dynamic evolution of a Filipino culture based on the principle of unity in diversity in a climate of free artistic and intellectual expression. Section 16 of the same article declares that the country’s artistic and historic wealth constitutes the cultural treasure of the nation and shall be under the protection of the State which may regulate its disposition.
The State recognizes that motor vehicles are integral part of Philippine culture, embedded in its history and chronicles of government, transportation, industry, social life, and popular culture. The State acknowledges that surviving vintage vehicles, as well as their related tools, equipment, accessories, buildings, literature, and collectible ephemera, deserve and require sustainable conservation, and that motoring heritage aids contextualization, documentation, interpretation, and understanding of the development of the nation’s way of life and how it continues to transition. Within this context, the preservation of vintage vehicles is in accord with policy of the State to preserve its heritage and patrimony.
The State recognizes the large and expanding international markets for the restoration of these vintage vehicles. The State is keenly aware that the country’s unique conditions, the capability of its small and medium industries, and the quality of its human resource make it competitive in those markets. It is therefore the declared policy of the State to provide an environment that will encourage its entrepreneurs and industries to participate in those markets and permit its businessmen, technicians, and workforce to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for the purpose. In furtherance of such policies, the State shall pursue the following objectives:
protect, preserve, enhance, and promote the nation’s heritage by preserving vintage vehicles and in furtherance thereof permit the importation of such vehicles in historically correct condition;
establish and strengthen regulatory policies that encourage their preservation, maintenance, occasional use, and registration;
increase economic opportunities by creating conditions favorable to small and medium industries that may participate in the international markets for the restoration and repair of vintage vehicles and the manufacture of their spare and replacement parts; and
encourage tourism through the promotion of automobile tours, shows, vintage motorsports, and similar events.
(This column came out as part of the Automobile Association of the Philippines Bi-Monthly Supplement in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on February 11, 2022)
