What does it mean for a location to be lawfully declared as a "tourist destination"?
Quezon City 4th district Rep. Marvin Rillo, a vice chairman of the House Committee on Tourism, answers this question even as the panel is set to facilitate the giving of such tag to a total of eight areas in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
Lined up for declaration as new tourist attractions are as follows:
· The immediate vicinity of Baclaran Church, also known as the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, along Roxas Boulevard in Parañaque City, under House Bill (HB) No. 5168;
· Mount Arayat, along the borders of the Municipalities of Arayat and Magalang in Pampanga, under HB No. 5169;
· Luzon Datum in Barangay Hinanggayon, Municipality of Mogpog in Marinduque, under HB No. 5170;
· Cebu Safari and Adventure Park in Barangay Corte, Municipality of Carmen in Cebu, under HB No. 5171;
· Guinsaugon Eco-Adventure Park in Barangay Guinsaugon, Municipality of St. Bernard in Southern Leyte, under HB No. 5173;
· Tugonan Waterfalls in Barangay San Lorenzo, Municipality of Prosperidad in Agusan del Sur, under HB No. 5167;
· Dao Heritage Tree in Barangay Cugman, Cagayan de Oro City, under HB No. 5172; and
· Passig Islet in Barangay Bato, Municipality of Sta. Cruz in Davao del Sur, under HB No. 5174.
All eight bills have been endorsed for plenary debate and approval by the tourism panel chaired by Romblon lone district Rep. Eleandro Madrona.
“Once finally declared by law as tourist destinations, the sites may benefit from the national government’s Tourism Road Infrastructure Program (TRIP),” Rillo said in a statement.
“In the proposed 2023 General Appropriations Act, TRIP has an allocation of P16.8 billion for the construction or improvement of access roads leading to declared tourist attractions,” noted the neophyte solon in the 19th Congress.
The P16.8 billion is on top of the P17.9 billion earmarked for TRIP in the existing 2022 national budget, according to Rillo, who is also a member of the House Committee on Appropriations.
Under TRIP, the specific roads to be funded would be identified jointly by the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
The bills mandate that the DOT and the local governments concerned would also be required to include the sites in their respective tourism development plans, in consultation with other relevant agencies such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), or the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP).