MARIKINA 2nd District Rep. Miro Quimbo renewed his call for the swift passage of House Bill 8464, or the proposed Travel Tax Abolition Act of 2026.
“The holiday rush is fast approaching, and many of our fellow Filipinos are already planning their trips. That is why we are calling for the swift passage of the measure seeking to abolish the travel tax, in order to reduce expenses for every Filipino family,” Quimbo, chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means and one of the bill’s principal authors, said in Filipino in a statement on Tuesday.
The lawmaker said scrapping the levy would ease the financial burden on families traveling abroad for leisure. Passengers currently subject to the full economy-class rate pay P1,620 in travel tax.
For a family of four paying the full rate, abolition of the tax would mean P6,480 in savings, Quimbo said, adding that the money could instead be used for other travel and family expenses.
The House of Representatives approved House Bill 8464, or the proposed Travel Tax Abolition Act of 2026, on third and final reading on March 16. It seeks to repeal the travel tax imposed under Presidential Decree No. 1183 and related provisions of the Tourism Act of 2009.
The measure has since been transmitted to the Senate.
The bill was included in the common legislative agenda identified by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council led by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in February.
Majority floor leader and Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Alexander Marcos earlier tagged the travel tax as an “unnecessary burden” that “weighs heavily on ordinary Filipinos who simply want to travel for work, family or opportunity.” Under the proposed law, agencies that would be affected by the tax cut, which include the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, the Commission on Higher Education, and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, would instead receive compensatory funding under the annual General Appropriations Act.