Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat welcomes the initiative of certain lawmakers at the House of Representatives to increase the budget of the Department of Tourism (DoT) for the fiscal year 2021.
During last week’s House Committee on Appropriations hearing, several lawmakers led by Baguio City Rep. Mark Go and Cagayan de Oro City Rufus Rodriguez advocated an increase in the department’s budget, restoring the originally proposed P4.43 billion in recognition for the tourism industry’s contribution to the national economy.
The Philippine Statistics Authority had earlier reported that the tourism sector contributed 12.7 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019, 10.8 percent of which came from domestic tourism. An estimated 5.7 million tourism workers have also been employed in that year, but Puyat revealed that 4.8 million of whom have been directly affected by the unprecedented crisis brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Puyat, however, said that they respect the budget ceiling the budget department has imposed on the various line agencies, including the DoT.
“With the ongoing pandemic , the DoT finds it imperative for everyone to maximize the use of resources and work together to accelerate recovery,” she said.
“Given the changing variables of the current global health situation, the tourism industry can only hope for the best. While an ample financial support from the government will play a major role in keeping our industry afloat, many factors such as the availability of a COVID-19 vaccine and the readiness of the destinations will play a significant part in regaining tourists’ confidence to travel which will largely determine the attainment of certain targets,” the Tourism chief added.
As stipulated in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) 2021, a total of P3.841 billion is allocated for the DoT for 2021. The amount of P3.52 billion is assigned to the DoT and its regional offices, and the remaining P90.3 million and P230 million to its attached agencies, the Intramuros Administration, and the National Parks Development Committee, respectively.
In addition, she said the DoT still has a remaining P2.128 billion out of the P3.8-billion approved budget for the 2020 fiscal year. But she said P1.48 billion of which has been given up by the Tourism department to aid the national government in addressing the pandemic pursuant to the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act (Bayanihan 2).
“We have reprogrammed our FY 2020 Work and Financial Plans to adapt to the new normal in government operations and in the tourism industry as a whole,” she said.