For many years, Filipino travelers who are flying out of the country have to pay a large amount of 1,620 pesos or 2,700 pesos for travel tax depending if they are riding economy or first class.
According to a report by The Philippine Star, the travel tax is broken down to the following: 50% to the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), 40% to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and 10% to the National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA).
But, thankfully, that can soon be a thing of the past.
In a phone interview between The Philippine Star and Katherine De Castro, who is the Tourism Undersecretary for Advocacy and Public Affairs, the Undersecretary shares that the DOT is looking into lowering the said travel tax, if not remove it entirely. This is in the intention of making traveling even more affordable for Filipinos.
De Castro admits that it is an ambitious plan, though. “It still needs a lot of review,” De Castro reportedly said in her interview. “Not right now, definitely, you know it’s an ambitious part from the end of the DOT.”
The Undersecretary also shares that, for now, what they are working on is getting the travel tax incorporated in the airline tickets to avoid the inconveniences when checking in at the airport.
“… 50% to the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), 40% to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and 10% to the National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA). …” How about the cost for material, labor, accounting, etc. ? I don’t think that at the very end a lot of money reaches tourism infrastructure, education or culture. It’s like so many things in bureaucracy: making “some people” rich …
For sure it should be scrapped, along with the ECC and RP fees to be paid by the foreigners with a 13a resident visa (exiting the country amounts to around php5000 in taxes only). You don’t find these kind of taxes in other countries. Why penalize the Filipinos who want to discover the beauty of the world? and why prevent the Foreigners living here to go abroad?