THE House Committee on Tourism on Monday approved the bills seeking to abolish the travel tax.
"We respect the proposal to abolish the travel tax because we believe that this is within the jurisdiction of Congress as the representation of the sentiments of the public," Chief Operating Officer Mark Lapid of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority said in Filipino and English during the committee hearing.
Lapid said that the tax goes to improving public parks like the Luneta Park in Manila and Burnham Park in Baguio City.
He also said tax funds tourist rest areas and "water and sewerage treatment facilities in Boracay, in Coron, and in Puerto Galera to keep water safe for tourists and citizens."
Forty percent of the travel tax also goes to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and 10 percent to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Lapid said.
Nueva Ecija 1st District Rep. Mikaela Angela Suansing, the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, said that “given the criticality of the funds, we will work together to ensure that those funds would remain available [...] for the different government institutions involved."
Abolishing the travel tax is a priority measure of the Marcos administration.
