Campaign tours good for tourism bill

I bumped into Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Leandro Mendoza last week. For a brief moment of conversation, I gathered that the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Passenger Terminal-3, or T-3 as it is called for brevity’s sake, would definitely be opened to commercial operations before the end of this month. Even as he spoke with certainty, Mendoza, however, still appeared to me doubtful of his own optimistic statement on T-3’s opening. He looked as if he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else that hopefully there would be no more hitches to the full operation of T-3.

I can understand the predicaments of Mendoza because the previously scheduled opening of T-3 had been aborted several times — the last was due to force majeure when a portion of the ceilings of T-3 gave way. Fortunately, no one was hurt because the incident occurred while the facility was not even operational yet. The repairs of the damaged ceilings were already completed.

In the meantime, the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has been in full blast construction of the road-widening project in front of T-3 to ensure smooth flow of vehicular traffic in and out of the T-3 complex in the former Villamor Airbase property in Pasay City. I heard the Philippine Airlines (PAL) would conduct a test-run of the T-3 on March 15 for actual arrival and departure flights.

Even while we wait for the new target date for the opening of T-3, it is heartening to note the continuing influx of tourists to our country. As we splashed in the front page of The STAR last Wednesday, there were five planeloads of South Korean tourists that arrived one after the other in Manila. As we have seen in that photo, the immigration area at the NAIA-1 Terminal was too small to accommodate such huge arrivals of passengers.

The local tourism industry players look forward to the opening of T-3 which they hope would help add some vigor to the resurgence of our tourism business. But they are counting more on something that would provide sustainable growth to the industry and this is the approval into law of the proposed Tourism Act of 2007. This bill, among other things, seeks to put up a Tourism Enterprise Zone Authority (TEZA). If approved into law, this would reorganize the Department of Tourism (DOT) and its various attached agencies, including the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA), to be consolidated into a single corporate entity rowing in one direction, that of selling the Philippines as a prime tourist destination in this part of the world.

The Tourism bill was approved on third and final reading by the Senate last month before they adjourned sessions for the election recess. The bill was championed at the Senate by former DOT Secretary and now Sen. Richard "Dick" Gordon. However, the bill got snagged at the House of Representatives after officials of the Finance Department blocked its approval due to their feared loss of P7 to P15 billion in revenues because of the many tax perks and incentives offered to prospective tourism-related investments.

The proposed Tourism Act of 2007 is one of the economic reform measures previously certified by President Arroyo as urgent administration legislative bill. But why would the Finance Department belatedly come out of nowhere to block its approval?

Fortunately, the bill has a very dedicated and staunch defender among the leaders of the Federation of Tourism Industries of the Philippines, headed by Alejandra "Dading" Clemente, the grand matriarch of the Rajah Tours Philippines. This argument by the Finance Department floored Mrs. Clemente who only knew too well the government would not earn anything if the private investments would not materialize at all to put up tourism enterprises and infrastructure facilities like new hotels, resorts, and theme parks which cost billions of pesos to build. The local investors don’t have much money compared to their foreign partners who are being lured to come in to fill the financing gap through these tax perks and other incentives.

Seeing how her children have become better than them in running their company even during the most turbulent times in our country that scared away foreign tourists to come here at one time or the other, Mrs. Clemente waxed poetic, saying she would leave a legacy for Philippine tourism if she would be able to see through the approval of the Tourism Act of 2007 by the 13th Congress before the lawmakers adjourn sine die this June.

Speaker Jose De Venecia officially sent words that the proposed Tourism Act of 2007 will be approved by the House when they resume sessions on June 4. The Speaker was reassured by the Finance Department they would withdraw their objections to the bill provided some of the "excessive" tax perks and other fiscal incentives would be rationalized to more acceptable levels. As principal author and sponsor of the proposed Tourism Act of 2007, Gordon could learn a few tricks in politics from De Venecia on how to get your pet bills approved in Congress. De Venecia is, after all, the master of "win-win" compromise deals.

This bill will have to be approved by Congress or else it will be back to square one for the tourism industry. The Philippine economy could get much boost from tourism with its multiplier effect in creating new jobs and more income for Filipinos, especially in the countryside where most tourist attractions are located. Our re-electionist Senators and Congressmen, who are currently on the campaign trail, should get enlightenment after touring the Philippines and perhaps inspire them to approve the Tourism bill as soon as they get back to Congress.

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