GOOD news for travelers.
A bill seeking to do away with travel tax is being sought by Senator Erwin Tulfo, saying such tax hinders the Filipinos’ right to travel.
Under Senate Bill No. 1409, Tulfo seeks to remove the travel tax, citing the ASEAN Tourism Agreement which the Philippines signed in 2002.
“Nearly 14 years since the Philippines signed the ASEAN Tourism Agreement, we still impose this travel tax,” the lawmaker pointed out, adding that his proposed measure is a “concrete step toward ensuring that travel becomes more equitable, accessible and reasonably priced for Filipinos.”
Currently, the collection of travel tax is based on several laws. Republic Act No. 1478 (Tourism Board Law) allots 50% of the collections to the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority Board of Travel and Tourist while RA 7722 (Higher Education Act) allots 40% of the revenue to the Commission on Higher Education and RA 9593 (Tourism Act of 2009) allots the remaining 10% of the collections to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
Travel tax rates for economy to first-class passage range from P1,620 to P2,700 while Standard Reduced rates are P810 to P1,350 and Privileged Reduced rates for dependents of Overseas Filipino Workers are P300 to P400.
“If we really want to improve the country’s tourism sector and be at par with our neighboring Southeast Asian countries, we have to remove these barriers that disempower Filipinos to travel,” Tulfo stressed.
He added: “Filipinos deserve a better travel experience that could render not only good memories but also better expose them to various cultures around the world.”
