TULFO PUSHES FOR REMOVAL OF TRAVEL TAX FOR ECONOMY PASSENGERS

By Liza Soriano

MANILA — Senator Raffy Tulfo is planning to file a bill to eliminate the travel tax for economy passengers flying abroad.

Tulfo argues that imposing additional costs on economy class passengers, who often travel on a budget using funds they have saved over a long period, infringes on their constitutional right to travel.

The 1987 Philippine Constitution recognizes the Filipino’s right to travel.

The basis for the government’s continued imposition of the travel tax is Presidential Decree 1183, issued in 1977, which Tulfo wants to repeal.

“Will passengers in first and business class still be required to pay the so-called luxury tax?” asked the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Public Services.

Under the current law, only Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), infants, and government officials and corporations on official travel are exempted from the travel tax.

ia/mnm