6 Senate bills pending to scrap travel tax

MANILA, Philippines — Six separate measures are now pending in the Senate to dismantle the decades-old travel tax, with Sen. Francis Pangilinan filing the latest bid to remove what he describes as an “economic burden” that stifles the mobility of ordinary Filipinos.

Senate Bill 1843, filed on Feb. 11, joins a growing effort backed by Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano and Senators Joel Villanueva and Erwin and Raffy Tulfo.

“By lowering the cost of international travel, we expect to stimulate passenger volume, increase spending on transport, accommodation, food and services and generate positive spillovers across the economy,” Pangilinan stated in the bill’s explanatory note.

“Increased travel activity also strengthens people-to-people exchanges and supports the Philippines’ positioning as a competitive and accessible destination,” he added.

The collective effort seeks to repeal a fiscal policy originally established in 1977 to curtail foreign travel and conserve foreign exchange.

Under the current system, Filipinos are charged P2,700 for first-class passage and P1,620 for economy class.

Pangilinan argued that these mandatory fees impact the constitutional right to travel guaranteed under Article III, Section 6 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, particularly for those with limited financial means.

The travel tax was first imposed in 1977 by the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos Sr. through Presidential Decree 1183.

Decades later, as the country seeks deeper integration with its ASEAN neighbors, senators argue the levy has become an outdated barrier.

All measures in the Senate seek abolition across the board, except for Sen. Raffy Tulfo’s proposal, which specifically seeks the removal of the tax only for economy-class passengers, ensuring that international travel is no longer a privilege reserved only for the wealthy.