MANILA – The majority of lawmakers in the House of Representatives are in favor of a proposal to remove the travel tax imposed on Filipinos departing abroad, House tourism committee vice chair, Palawan 3rd District Rep. Gil Acosta Jr., said.

Speaking at a news forum in Quezon City, Acosta said Congress is set to discuss in the coming weeks whether to push for limited exemptions or the total abolition of the tax.

“Dito sa House medyo positive naman (At the House, the reception is quite positive), I think majority of our colleagues in the House would support the bill. Tinitingnan lamang sa komite, ano ba ang mas maganda? Exemption or total abolition (We are just looking at whether it should be limited to exemption or total abolition),” he said.

Acosta clarified that the proposal is not intended to defund projects implemented by the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), or the allocations for the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

He added that once a law is passed, funding for affected tourism, education, and heritage programs would be secured directly from the General Appropriations Act.

“Nakapag-usap na rin sa Finance, na there is, galing sa House, na hindi made-defund. Nandoon pa rin. In fact, mas maganda dahil hindi na sila dependent kung ilan lang ang lalabas (There had been discussions already that there won’t be any defunding. It’s still there. In fact, it becomes better because they no longer have to be dependent on the number of travelers leaving for abroad),” Acosta said.

Several measures are pending in Congress, including House Bill 7443 filed by House majority leader Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Sandro Marcos and House Bill 7367 by Cebu City Rep. Edu Rama, seeking the immediate abolition of the travel tax.

The Department of Tourism said it is leaving the decision to Congress but stressed the need to identify alternative funding sources to sustain tourism infrastructure programs.

(PNA)