Palawan solon eyes House probe on travel tax collections usage

A ranking congressman is calling for a House inquiry on how travel tax collection--estimated to be worth P4 billion to P5 billion annually--have been utilized, particularly on tourism developing in the countryside. Palawan 3rd district Rep. Gil “KABARANGAYJR” Acosta, a vice chairman of the Committee on Tourism in the House of Representatives, called this an "important issue that must be looked into by Congress". Acosta made the call even as the House leadership--particularly Majority Leader Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos--pushed tor legislation to abolish the travel tax, which had turned into a burden for Filipinos according to him. “Yes definitely [we have to review in Congress] kung saan napunta [ang travel tax collections], especially pre-pandemic kasi from 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 wala halos koleksyon in terms of palabas, so dapat natin balikan kung tama ba ’yung nagamit. Kung saan nagamit at kung ano ang naging epekto sa tourism Industry,” Acosta said in a news forum in Quezon City over the weekend. (Yes, definitely we need to review in Congress where the travel tax collections went, especially before the pandemic, because from 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 there was hardly any collection from outbound travel. So we should go back and check if the...