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Drilon seeks hike in tourism budget for 2021

October 20, 2020, 2:54 pm

<p>Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon<em> (File photo)</em></p>

Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon (File photo)

MANILA – Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon lamented the insufficient support from the government to the pandemic-stricken tourism industry, citing the meager budget of the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the absence of cash-for-work allocation for employees of tourism enterprises in the 2021 National Expenditure Program (NEP).

“Tourism is the second biggest contributor to the country’s GDP. Instead of rewarding and supporting the DOT and tourism enterprises, our national budget keeps on decreasing its support for the tourism industry,” Drilon said during the Senate hearing on the agency’s proposed 2021 budget on Monday.

The tourism industry accounted for 12.7 percent of the country’s gross domestic product in 2019 and employed 5.7 million workers, he stressed.

The DOT proposed a PHP4.9 billion budget to the DBM for 2021. However, only PHP3.52 billion was approved for next year.

“The amount is insufficient given the sector’s contribution to the economy and its capability to bring back economic activities halted by the Covid-19 pandemic,” Drilon said.

Drilon emphasized the need to capacitate the DOT to bring back the robust tourism and concomitant economic activities halted by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

“We do hope that we could push tourism farther, especially at this time because tourism is the quickest way by which we can recover,” he said. “I will support an increase in the DOT budget to help revive the tourism sector. This is an industry that deserves our support. I hope our voices can be heard here.”

Drilon added: “There’s a lot to be said about Senator (Richard) Gordon’s comment that the national government’s support to the tourism industry has been all but lip service. It is not reflected in the agency’s budget.”

Aside from insufficient budget for the tourism department, Drilon also questioned why there is no additional allocation for cash-for-work programs to assist displaced tourism workers in the 2021 budget.

To make the matters even worse, it was revealed upon Drilon’s questioning that the whole PHP10 billion allocation for the tourism sector under Bayanihan to Recover as One has not been released by the DBM.

Along with other senators, Drilon fought to keep the PHP10 billion allocation for the tourism sector, of which PHP6 billion will be for loans and interest subsidy under the Covid-19 Assistance to Restart Enterprises (CARES) program of the Small Business Guarantee and Finance Corporation under the DTI to assist micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); PHP1 billion for the tourism road infrastructure programs under the DPWH; and PHP3 billion for the cash-for-work programs under the Department of Labor and Employment to assist displaced and unemployed tourism workers.

“Covid-19 may have crippled our tourism sector but it will be the national budget that will kill it if we do not correct this,” he said.

Drilon called on the Department of Budget and Management to immediately release the fund to benefit the tourism sector, especially considering that the law will expire by December of this year. (PR)

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