AT least 10 percent of inspected hotels and other accommodations establishments around the Manila Bay area were found to have violated environmental regulations.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat revealed this during a press conference on Monday, after she unveiled the reworked Philippines brand campaign anchored on the slogan, “It’s More Fun in the Philippines.” (See, “DOT unveils ‘refreshed’ PHL brand campaign,” in the BusinessMirror, February 19, 2019.)
She disclosed that government teams have already inspected 50 hotels around the Manila Bay area. Of the 50, she said, “five have been given three months to comply.” She declined to reveal the names of the five hotels, only identifying “some” as part of large hotel chains, while “others aren’t. We would rather not announce their names because we gave them three months. If they don’t comply, then we will close them.” The notices of violations issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) had to do with water pollution.
As per the web site of the Department of Tourism, in the National Capital Region alone, there are 91 accredited hotels, 12 apartment hotels and 14 Mabuhay accommodations (inns and pension houses) as of 2018. Of the 91 accredited hotels 46 are located in Manila, Pasay and Parañaque. For apartment hotels, only two are located in Pasay and Manila, while nine out of 14 Mabuhay accommodations are in Manila and Pasay.
As this developed, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) vowed to go after erring local government officials who don’t enforce Republic Act 9353, the Tourism Act 2009, in their areas.
The government agency issued Memorandum Circular 2019-17,
signed by Interior Secretary Eduardo M. Año, reiterating the implementing rules
and regulations of TA 2009, requiring primary tourism enterprises
(PTEs) such as hotels, resorts, inns and
other accommodation establishments to secure accreditation from the DOT prior
to being issued a license or permit to operate by local government units
(LGUs).
“Kakasuhan namin sila! [We will file cases against them!],” said Año in an interview with the BusinessMirror, when asked how much teeth his memo had over LGU officials.
“If local officials fail to do their mandate under the law, they can always be administratively liable,” explained DILG Undersecretary Epimaco V. Densing III in a text message.
He added, the memo is “just reminding PTEs to have DOT accreditation and LGUs should cancel business permits if PTEs don’t have DOT accreditation.”
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