A veteran lawmaker in the House of Representatives has said the P10-billion stimulus fund intended for the tourism sector under the proposed Bayanihan to Recover as One Act should be alloted to the Department of Tourism (DoT).
“I am appealing to the panel to allocate the funds to the Department of Tourism (DoT) instead of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA),” Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said in a statement Thursday.
P10 billion has been allocated under TIEZA based on the Bayanihan 2 bill or House Bill (HB) No. 6953, which the House approved on third and final reading.
But Rodriguez said the funds can still be realigned to DoT during the bicameral conference committee hearings between the House members and senators in the effort to harmonize their respective versions of Bayanihan 2 -- the vaunted follow-up to the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act.
“What is needed is not infrastructure by TIEZA but direct assistance to stakeholders in the tourism industry directly hit by COVID-19 such as the transportation sector, especially air and sea, small resorts, hotels, travel agencies, and their employees,” he said.
He said millions of employees of these establishments and small enterprises doing business with them like their suppliers have been without jobs and income since quarantine measures were imposed in March.
“It is these workers we need to give priority to in allocating public funds for the tourism sector, not to more road projects leading to faraway tourist destinations. Many of these projects do not have immediate economic impact unlike direct assistance to tourisn stakeholders and their employees," added the Mindanaoan solon.
Rodriguez pointed out that the tourism industry has lost billions of pesos due to the pandemic. Reviving it will benefit more Filipinos, he noted.
The proposed P10-billion funding for the tourism sector is with the DoT under the Senate version of Bayanihan 2. As such, the Tourism Congress of the Philippines, which is composed of owners of resorts, travel agencies, and other tourism-oriented businesses, is supporting the Senate version.
Other groups supporting the Senate’s Bayanihan 2 bill are the Philippine Travel Agencies Association, Philippine Tour Operators Association, Hotel Sales and Marketing Association Philippines, National Association of Independent Travel Agencies, Region One Travel Agencies Association, and the Davao Association of Tour Operators.
Among other goals, senators want the money to be used to provide soft loans and or loan guarantees to affected establishments, including those that need to renovate or modernize their facilities, provide funds for employee retraining, marketing, and promotions, and digital transformation.
Some industry stakeholders have expressed fears that if appropriated for roads and other tourism infrastructure, the funds could be used for political purposes.
The House version of Bayanihan 2 is a P162-billion stimulus package meant to prop up several industries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Senate version is only worth P140 billion, congressmen noted.