The Department of Tourism (DOT), as well as multiple tourism stakeholders, are requesting for the reconsideration of the changes made in the proposed Bayanihan to Recover as One Act to distribute the funds directly to heavily affected business during the pandemic instead of allocating the majority of the funds for general projects for tourism.
The bill allocates a total of P10 billion to back the cost of the programs of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) which a majority of the tourism stakeholders derided.
In addition P500 million will be allocated to establish COVID-19 testing centers in tourist destinations as identified by the DOT, to stimulate tourism and generate employment, in partnership with the LGU and DOH and/or private entities
Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, the Secretary of the Department of Tourism stated that businesses related to tourism are the priority when it comes to the financial assistance being provided by the bill which they can use on a variety of things to make sure that their business stays afloat during this crisis.
The tourism secretary also said that as soon as the Department of Tourism began collaborating with the Congress on the many revisions of the economic stimulus bills, the latest of which is the Bayanihan 2 Bill, they have prioritized all of the concerns from different businesses related to tourism.
She stated that, “We are one with the tourism industry stakeholders who have expressed their position for a specific allocation for working capital loans are set in the proposed Bayanihan Act 2. Direct assistance to the tourism industry is what the other countries as well did, to ensure its expedient recovery as well.”
A similar appeal was made by the President of the Tourism Congress of the Philippines, Jose Clemente III, to the Congress to reconsider the allocation of the budget since the needs of the different tourism related businesses need financial aid for their businesses to survive is more immediate and important than infrastructures.
“We have been virtually shut down for close to 150 days with no sources of income. Infrastructure development can resume as we head into normalcy but for now, the priority of stakeholders is financial assistance in the various forms of what is in the provisions of the bill,” he stated in his appeal to the lawmakers.
Due to the uproar from tourism stakeholders and the Tourism Congress of the Philippines, Tourism Secretary Puyat has submitted an appeal to multiple members of Congress appealing for the change of the mandates given to the Department of Tourism. These changes aim to switch the allocation of the budget to assist heavily affected tourist related businesses instead, even to small businesses and other members of the informal sector.
Therefore proposing an amount of P10 billion. The P9.5 billion will be allocated to finance the programs of the DOT to fund critically impacted businesses while P500 million will go to various support programs that would further aid the industry toward the new normal,” Tourism Secretary Puyat stated, saying that the Department of Tourism has been working closely with different tourism stakeholders in the private sector ever since the start of the pandemic and have pinpointed many issues and concerns that are in need of immediate aid from the government.
She also stated that Tourism in the Philippines is the most affected sector of our Economy in this pandemic due to the fact that it relies heavily on customer traffic and there are multiple travel restrictions and community quarantines imposed nationwide. This lack of customer traffic has affected both large tourism businesses as well as Micro, Small, and Medium Tourism Enterprises.
“We affirm therefore that at this stage of the crisis where we are now looking at the recovery and resiliency of the industry, our priority based on consultations with the stakeholders are fiscal and monetary measures supporting tourism directly. These will range from economic relief to tourism businesses, rather than an infrastructure component which is not the priority at the moment.” the tourism secretary stated.
Additional source: Philstar.com & mb.com
Photo source: Philstar, Tripadvisor, & Wikipedia
