NETIZENS are questioning why the Department of Tourism (DOT) is getting the largest chunk, at P14 billion, of the economic stimulus package set up to fight the Corona Virus Disease (Covid-19) outbreak.
The P27-billion package was announced by the Department of Finance (DOF) on Monday, after a Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine was announced by Malacañang, to contain the spread of Covid-19. (See. “Government announces P27.1 billion stimulus package to fight COVID-19,” in the BusinessMirror, March 16, 2020.)
On Twitter, the Gabriela Women’s Party noted, “It [Spending plan] allocates P14 B, or more than half of the total stimulus to supposedly boost the tourism industry. This spending plan is sketchy, considering that travel restrictions are already in place, making big tourist enterprises the potential beneficiaries of this funding facility.”
Another netizen, Dianna Litang, tweeted, “Can someone please verify this???? because I honestly don’t understand how we’re already allotting 14B out of the 27.1B spending plan to TOURISM while our health care sector is financially compromised???”
A check by the BusinessMirror shows, however, the P14-billion funding is not an additional allocation from the national budget. The funds are from the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (Tieza), the infrastructure arm of the DOT. The budget is for projects approved prior to the Covid-19 outbreak. Tieza’s operations and projects are financed by the travel taxes paid by departing passengers from international airports.
In previous statements, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III had publicly nagged Tieza for “hoarding” the P14-billion in travel taxes it had accumulated since 2009.
But Tieza Chief Operating Officer Pocholo Paragas, said, “The majority of the accumulated funding of P14 billion are already allocated: P7.95 billion for 2009-2018 board-approved projects, P2.12 billion for scheduled payables, and P5.2 billion for 2019 board-approved projects.” (See, Tieza speeds up funding of tourism infra projects,” in the BusinessMirror, Feb. 24, 2020.)
In a news statement billing the P14-billion funding for “tourism recovery projects,” Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat also said “some are ongoing projects, while others are in various stages of pre-procurement and procurement.”
She stressed, “This crisis will pass but our sector is badly hurt. We must find ways to shorten the tourism industry’s recovery path, while generating jobs in the meantime.”
The DOT said the P5-billion worth of infrastructure projects were allocated for Bohol, Iloilo, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Corregidor Island and other tourist destinations. These projects “will be implemented within the year and are expected to create thousands of jobs during the construction phase of said projects.”
Other projects include the rehabilitation of tourist sites such as Burnham Park in Baguio City and including the construction of sewer treatment plants, in Coron and Puerto Galera, amounting to P1.2 billion.
The Tieza Board had also approved the funding of regional tourism development plans and masterplans amounting to P1.02 billion, “which will identify the tourism infrastructure needed to ensure sustainable development as well as promote the disaster resilience of tourist areas.”
Tieza is also working with the Department of Transportation for the night rating of airports, in a project worth P1.78 billion.
The DOT added that plans have also been laid out to improve roads to access the tourism sites, in partnership with the Department of Public Works and Highways for the next three years, which is estimated to reach P800 million.
“Tieza will work with the DOT, other relevant government agencies, and private tourism stakeholders to re-invigorate the tourism sector and provide fresh opportunities again for the tourism enterprises and workers after the outbreak has subsided,” said the lead tourism agency.
1 comment
If the budget was pre-approved before the pandemic, then why call it a “stimulus package to fight COVID-19?”
MGA IDIOTA KAYO. NAKAKADIRI.