House tourism panel okays bill abolishing travel tax
A consolidated bill pushing for the proposed abolition of the travel tax has been approved by the House tourism committee and forwarded to the ways and means panel for the crafting of alternative taxation mechanisms.
During Monday’s hearing of the tourism committee headed by Romblon Rep. Eleandro Jesus Madrona, a still unnumbered substitute bill that consolidated 18 measures seeking to do away with the travel tax was approved in principle.
However, concerns were raised about possible cuts to the programs of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) and the National Commission for the Culture and Arts (NCCA), as part of the tax is allocated to these agencies.
New fund source
CHEd Commissioner Dr. Shirley Agrupis warned that repealing the travel tax without identifying an alternative funding source would significantly reduce the Higher Education Development Fund which provides scholarships, research and other benefits to around 5.4 million students from 1,906 learning institutions.
NCCA Deputy Executive Director Marichu Tellano said they also need an alternative funding source to ensure continuous support for their mandate, particularly the implementation of the National Endowment Fund for Culture and the Arts.
To address this, House committee on appropriations chair and Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Suansing said that she, Madrona, ways and means panel head Marikina Rep. Miro Quimbo, along with the bill authors, would try to find other sources of funding for the affected agencies.
“Rest assured, given the criticality of the funds, we will work together to ensure that those funds will remain available for the departments of the different government institutions involved,” she said.
The proposed travel tax abolition is one of the 21 proposed bills identified by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council as priority legislation.
******
Get real-time news updates: inqnews.net/inqviber
