THE Air Carriers Association of the Philippines (ACAP) on Wednesday welcomed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s support for the proposed scrapping of the travel tax.
Presidential Decree 1183 and related provisions of the Tourism Act of 2009 allow the government to collect a tax of P2,700 from first-class passengers and P1,620 from economy-class travelers.
The proposal to abolish the travel tax was among 21 priority bills presented at the 3rd Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) meeting held in Malacañang.
“Overall, removing the travel tax will directly lower the overall cost of international air travel for Filipinos, in turn benefiting individual travelers, families, groups, students, and first-time travelers, among others. The policy is also expected to stimulate passenger demand, and will enhance the Philippines’ connectivity and global competitiveness,“ ACAP said in a statement.
ACAP is an industry group representing the country’s major commercial airlines, including Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Philippines AirAsia, PAL Express, and Cebgo.
The group added it continues to work closely with government and industry stakeholders to advance reforms that make travel more accessible to Filipinos, while sustaining the long-term development of the country’s aviation and tourism sectors.
Travel tax collected from outbound Filipino travelers is distributed among three sectors. Fifty percent goes to the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (Tieza), 40 percent to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and 10 percent to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).
The Office of the President said that if the travel tax abolition or reduction bill is passed in Congress, funding for affected tourism, education and heritage programs would not be affected in the General Appropriations Act (GAA).
