Rodriguez appeals to Bayanihan 2 bicam: Give P10-B tourism aid to DOT, not TIEZA

Cagayan De Oro City Representative Rufus Rodriguez on Thursday called on the bicameral conference committee on the proposed Bayanihan to Recover As One Act to allocate the P10-billion tourism aid to the Department of Tourism (DOT) itself, and not to the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA).

Rodriguez made the remark ahead of the expected deliberation of the bicameral panel to reconcile the disagreeing provisions of the House and Senate versions of the proposed Bayanihan 2 Law.

“I am appealing to the panel to allocate the funds to the Department of Tourism instead of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority,” Rodriguez said in a statement.

The provision to allocate P10 billion to the TIEZA is found in the House version of the measure. In the Senate version, the said funding is given to the DOT itself.

Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte, one of the principal authors of the House version of the measure, pointed out in a separate statement that the P10 billion for TIEZA is intended “for infrastructure projects aimed at beefing up the country’s tourism infrastructure for the long haul and creating thousands of jobs for displaced industry workers in the immediate term.”

TIEZA serves as the infrastructure arm of the DOT.

But Rodriguez argued that what is needed is not infrastructure by TIEZA "but direct assistance to stakeholders in the tourism industry directly hit by COVID-19."

He stressed that millions of employees in tourism establishments as well as of small enterprises in the tourism industry have been out of jobs and income since quarantine measures were imposed in March.

“It is these workers we need to give priority to in allocating public funds for the tourism sector, not to more road projects leading to faraway tourist destinations," he said.

"Many of these projects do not have immediate economic impact unlike direct assistance to tourism stakeholders and their employees," he added.

Rodriguez also raised the concern of some stakeholders that the funds intended to revive the country's tourism industry would be used for political purposes if allocated for roads and other tourism infrastructure.

But Villafuerte said industry leaders need not worry "because TIEZA is chaired by Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo Puyat, who has a squeaky clean image in government service.”

He added that the tourism-related funding in the House version of the proposed  is only the initial stimulus outlay for the recovery of this sector, as there would be other allocations for the DOT and the tourism industry in the proposed General Appropriations Act of 2021 as well as in the two House approved stimulus bills.

These two measures are the P1.5-trillion COVID-19 Unemployment Reduction Economic Stimulus Act and the P1.3-trillion Accelerated Recovery and Investments Stimulus for the Economy bill, he said. — BM, GMA News