EVAP hails new officers

MANILA: The Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP) has recently announced its newest set of Board of Directors.

Taking the top position is Autohub Group President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Willy Tee Ten— succeeding longtime group chief Edmund Araga, who has assumed the role of Ex-Officio Immediate Past President.

Aside from Tee Ten, the following individuals are also assuming their respective roles on the board:

Name	Company/role	Position in EVAP
Carla Buencamino	ACMobility Head of Mobility Infrastructure	Vice President
Mark Rola	Metro Goldrich Construction President	Corporate Secretary
Kevin Yao	Autokid Subic Trading CEO	Treasurer
Jojo Conde	PESIN President and CEO	Auditor

On the other hand, EVAP founders Ferdinand Raquelsantos and Rommel Juan took on the EVAP Chair Emeritus and Chairman roles, respectively.

A veteran in the local automotive industry, Tee Ten was responsible for bringing the Mini, Lotus, and Zeekr to the Philippines through the Autohub Group. Other marques under the multi-brand firm portfolio includes Ford, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Kia, Mazda, Geely, Morris Garages (MG), Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC), JAC, GWM, and JMC.

Other stories: BMW PH unleashes updated X1 model Fuel prices spike further as Q1 2026 closes Geely PH rolls out all-new EX5 EM-i PHEV crossover

His predecessor Araga, who served as EVAP president for four terms, made several notable strides for the country’s electric vehicle industry. Among them are:

• Pushed for the passage of Republic Act 11697 (also known as the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act in 2022
• Contributed to the formation of the Comprehensive Roadmap for the Electric Vehicle Industry (CREVI) in 2023
• Led the establishment of the Asian Federation of Electric Vehicle Associations (AFEVA) in 2020

For his part, Araga is confident in Tee Ten’s leadership and noted that he will remain engaged in the association's work.

"Passing the presidency to Willy and this new board is something I do with great pride," said Araga.

"What EVAP helped shape over these years belongs to every member of this association and to every Filipino who dared to believe that we could transform our transportation landscape. Rather than stepping away, I will be right there in the technical working groups, sleeves rolled up, doing the work that still needs to be done," he added.

Meanwhile, Tee Ten expressed his appreciation for being appointed as the new group head.

"We are at a moment in this industry that the people who started EVAP could only have dreamed of," said Tee Ten. "And I say that with genuine gratitude, because they did dream it, and they worked for it for a very long time. It is an honor—one I feel deeply, and that every member of this incoming board shares—to take the wheel now, when the road ahead is finally clear. We are not starting from scratch. We are building on a foundation that is firmly in place, and that gives us every reason to be excited."

Currently, EVAP is made up of 88 member companies and seven pioneering university partners.

In the Philippines, EV sales have grown from less than 1,000 in 2022 to nearly 20,000 in 2025. Last year also saw the group taking five percent of the overall local vehicle market.

Additionally, charging stations have tripled from approximately 300 in 2023 to nearly 1,000 in 2025—with the industry now looking at having 7,300 stations two years from now.

The association is also keen on hitting its goal of 50 percent EV adoption in new vehicle sales by 2040, with an intermediate target of 6.6 million EV units on the road by 2030.

"Over the years, EVAP has become a movement, one built by people who believed in electric mobility long before it became the conversation it is today,” Tee Ten said.

"We are excited to carry that work forward and to keep pushing the boundaries of what the Philippine EV industry can accomplish."

Also read:

Vetoing of CARS, RACE fundings to affect EV industry too, group claims

EVAP pushes for e-bike, e-trike access on local roads

EVAP elated over DAGEV’s push for NEV products

Like and follow us on our social media pages:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarmudiPH

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carmudiph/?hl=en

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@carmudiph

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CarmudiPhilippines