Bohol First District Rep. and House Committee on Tourism Senior Vice Chair Edgar M.
Chatto has expressed his support for the 40 percent share of the Commission on Higher
Education (CHED) from the tourism travel tax during a committee meeting on
Wednesday.
The meeting deliberated on bills proposing Carrying Capacity Regulations of
destinations and Travel Tax exemption for Senior Citizens and PWDs.
Chatto, who authored the Tourism Act of 2009, explained that the law provides that
Travel Tax Collection is allocated 50% to the Tourism Infrastructure and Economic Zone
Authority (TIEZA), 40% for CHED and 10% to the National Commission on Culture and
Arts (NCCA).
“CHED has to have the 40% share of the tourism travel tax to ensure that its operations
are not disturbed,” he stated, emphasizing that the CHED budget is highly dependent
on the Higher Education Development Fund (HEDF) that goes directly to the State
Colleges and Universities (SUCs).
Chatto further recommended for the committee to convene the Department of Tourism
(DOT), CHED, NCCA and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to
address concerns on the limitations set by DBM on the use of the funds with CHED.
He stated that these are not provided in the Tourism Law and not envisioned in the
interpretation of the law.
“If CHED can maximize its use of the funds, there will be big ticket projects for higher
education specifically related programs and courses to tourism as a capacity
development avenue for tourism workers, front liners to be trained by our SUCs,” he
added.
Chatto disclosed that at the time the law was being passed, the Lower House pushed
for travel tax collection to be distributed to DOT, CHED and NCCA to address fund
allocation gaps.
He said that this would help boost the tourism industry and promote the culture and arts
of the country.