Departing passengers queue before the immigration counters at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 in Pasay City on July 4, 2023. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA — Sen. Raffy Tulfo on Monday said economy class passengers should be exempted from paying travel taxes.

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"Para sa akin, dapat yung sinisingil na travel tax papunta abroad, dapat yung sumasakay lang ng first class, business class. Yung nagsasakay ng economy, hindi na dapat singilin ng travel tax," said Tulfo, chair of Senate Committee on Public Services.

Robert Lim, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) undersecretary for Aviation and Airports, explained that travel tax is being collected by the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) under the Department of Tourism (DOT), and not the DOTR.

"It's the Department of Tourism ang nagpapatupad nyan. But in the past, madami na pong efforts to eliminate it at ipasa na lang sa GAA ang pangangailangan ng tourism or TIEZA," he said.

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"Because yan ang main source of funding ng TIEZA. Ang TIEZA naman ho, nakakatulong sa tourism and even in transport. Nakakapagtulong sila sa mga airport development so beneficiary din ho ang DOTr," Lim added.

According to the TIEZA website, the travel tax is a levy imposed by the Philippine government on individuals who are leaving the country irrespective of the place where the air ticket is issued and the form or place of payment, as provided for by Presidential Decree (PD) 1183, as amended.

Under Section 73 of Republic Act No. 9593, 50 percent of the proceeds from travel tax collections shall accrue to the TIEZA, 40 percent shall accrue to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for tourism-related educational programs and courses, and 10 percent shall accrue to the National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA).

Tulfo called the travel tax an impediment to travel, while Lim conceded it was an anachronism.

Tulfo wants TIEZA to just source its funds from the national budget instead of collecting travel taxes.

"Ngayon kung gusto ng budget ng TIEZA, eh di kuha sila sa GAA. Huwag dito sa travel tax," Tulfo said. 

An alternative Tulfo floated is collecting only from business and first class passengers.

Lim for his part said an alternative could be to lower the current travel tax rates.

The full travel tax rate is currently P2,700 for first class passage and P1,620 for economy class passage.

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