Mark Lapid sheds light on where travel tax goes

Last Tuesday, Sept. 30, actor-turned-public servant Mark Lapid, chief operating officer of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), hosted an intimate lunch for some of his media friends. I had been looking forward to it, mainly because I wanted to ask the actor-politician a question that has crossed the minds of many Filipino travelers: Where exactly does our travel tax go?

For those who travel abroad, the travel tax is one of the charges included in our airfare. It is currently P1,620 for economy and business class passengers and P2,700 for first-class passengers. The fee applies to outbound international travel, subject to 23 exemptions, including overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and diplomats, and is collected by TIEZA.

Mark and his father, Sen. Lito Lapid.

The House of Representatives has passed House Bill No. 8464, which seeks to abolish the travel tax, but the measure remains pending in the Senate. Mark, however, has asked the Senate to defer its abolition until the end of the year.

I personally favor abolishing the travel tax. Many travelers wait for airline promotions, sometimes even scoring a “piso fare,” only to discover that they still have to pay an additional P1,620 in travel tax. It can certainly take the fun out of finding a bargain.

The travel tax dates back to 1956, when it was introduced in connection with the creation of the Board of Travel and Tourist Industry, primarily to conserve foreign exchange. It was later reorganized and reintroduced in 1977, during the Martial Law era, as a means of regulating international departures and conserving foreign currency.

But times have changed. For many Filipinos today, travel is no longer simply a luxury. It can be for work, education, family, business or simply a much-needed break.

And like a true gentleman, Mark listened patiently to my complaints. When it was his turn to explain, he gave me a clearer picture of where the money goes.

The travel tax collections are divided three ways: 50 percent goes to TIEZA, 40 percent to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), which supports some 60,000 scholars, and 10 percent to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

Last year, travel tax collections reached roughly P8B. Of this amount, about P4B went to TIEZA, P3B to CHED and P1B to NCCA.

Mark hopes Congress will reconsider abolishing the travel tax. He understands that P1,620 can make a significant dent in an ordinary Filipino family’s travel budget, particularly when several family members are flying.

At the same time, he explained that TIEZA’s share is used to improve tourism infrastructure, including airports, in cooperation with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).

Currently, 10 regional airports are undergoing rehabilitation under iLipad, or the Institutionalized Leveraging Infrastructure Program on Airport Development. These are in Butuan, Zamboanga City, Tuguegarao, Siargao, Roxas City, Pagadian, Laoag, Kalibo, Dumaguete and Calbayog.

TIEZA’s infrastructure projects also extend to tourist destinations such as El Nido, Coron, Siargao and Burnham Park in Baguio City, particularly in addressing sanitation concerns and improving water and sewerage systems.

From travel tax, our conversation naturally shifted to Mark’s other world: showbiz.

Mark is currently seen regularly in “Sigabo,” where he works alongside Coco Martin. His shooting schedule is limited to once a week, usually Fridays or Saturdays, allowing him to concentrate on his responsibilities at TIEZA during the rest of the week.

I was surprised to learn that both Mark and his father, Sen. Lito Lapid, have stopped accepting talent fees since they began appearing in “Batang Quiapo.”

For father and son, he explained, it is their way of continuing to do something they love.

Showbiz is their passion. It is the industry Mark grew up in and the one that supported their family. Politics, on the other hand, is an entirely different world, with the pressure to deliver quality public service and good governance while being constantly subject to public scrutiny and criticism.

Mark could not help sharing his thoughts about the current challenges facing the tourism industry. The country’s political turmoil has affected the sector, he said, while the continuing crisis in the Middle East has added another layer of difficulty. Investors are pulling out, while airfares have risen sharply.

For the tourism industry, remaining competitive with neighboring ASEAN countries is a continuing challenge. One problem is that Filipinos sometimes find it more affordable to travel abroad than to visit local destinations, with domestic airfares occasionally costing more than international fares to destinations in countries such as Thailand and Vietnam.

According to Mark, TIEZA has identified infrastructure as one of the gaps that needs to be addressed. Many of the country’s domestic airports have relatively short runways, limiting them to turbo-prop aircraft.

The diversion of many turbo-prop planes to Clark Airport also adds about 30 minutes to some flights, increasing costs. Longer runways would allow airports to accommodate larger aircraft, including airbuses that can carry around 200 passengers, compared with turbo-prop planes that carry approximately 80.

It was an enlightening lunch, not only because I finally got an answer to my question about where our travel tax goes, but also because it gave me a glimpse into the challenges faced by the country’s tourism industry.

Whether the travel tax should ultimately be abolished is now in the hands of Congress. Hopefully, legislators can find a solution that balances the concerns of travelers with the need to fund tourism infrastructure, education and culture — and, ultimately, helps make both domestic and international travel more accessible to Filipinos.