A party-list lawmaker on Tuesday accused Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat of ‘unduly lobbying’ in favor of the interests of tourism industry’s big players in her alleged move to arm-twist the bicameral conference committee on the proposed Bayanihan to Recover as One Act or Bayanihan 2 into allotting a P10-billion bailout fund for private firms in the tourism sector.
At the same time, Rep. Sabiniano Canama of COOP-NATCCO partylist group dared the Tourism chief “to identify these big industry players that she is protecting and wants to bail out.”
“The millions of displaced workers in the tourism industry deserve to know why they are being deprived of immediate relief with her insistence in transferring the P10-billion fund for tourism infrastructure to a financing program that will hand out so-called ‘working capital’ loans to a favored few,” Canama said.
Romulo-Puyat has been criticized for allegedly pushing to provide “bailouts” or “doleouts” directly to private firms in the tourism sector that is currently one of the hardest hit by COVID-19 outbreak.
She supports the proposal of Tourism Congress of the Philippines President Jose Clemente III that the P10 billion allocation for Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority be diverted to provide working capital and direct funding support to the tourism sector.
Canama, chair of the House Committee on Cooperative Development, said that “if Puyat succeeds in getting a substantial portion of the P162-billion stimulus fund under the would-be Bayanihan 2 law for her favored clique in the tourism industry, who are the only ones who can afford to obtain loans at this time, then they too will also demand their specific share of the economic rescue package.”
The House of Representatives has allocated P10 billion for the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority for its infrastructure projects and another P51 billion in additional capital to government financial institutions to lend out to the tourism and transportation sectors, micro, small and medium enterprises and other industries hit hard by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is puzzling why Puyat has been adamant in securing this P10 billion fund for the exclusive benefit of her clique in the tourism industry, when there is already a larger amount of P51 billion allocated by the House for loans to pandemic-hit private businesses,” Canama said.
He pointed out that what workers need now are jobs, which can be provided by infrastructure investments, given its high multiplier effects of creating employment, generating new businesses and stimulating consumer demand.
Canama said providing loans to big companies in the tourism sector is not even a priority at this time because even with the transition to the new normal, tourists would still be wary over going out and traveling for leisure.
“Even if they are able to secure the money they want, what good would that do to starving workers and their families? Who would dare go to resorts and vacation spots with the threat of the pandemic still among us? Tourism workers need jobs now, not later when these big firms have finally decided what to do with the working capital they will receive under Puyat’s ill-considered plan to revive the industry,” Canama said.
Canama expressed dismay that Romulo-Puyat had even told the bicameral conference committee that if the P10-billion fund would go to TIEZA, then it would be better for the Congress to allocate or give the amount instead to other sectors.
In her August 12, 2020 letter to legislators, Romulo-Puyat said: “If Congress deems it best not to give the whole amount to our tourism stakeholders, it can be allocated to other programs of other departments that would directly address public health current crisis instead of allocating it to TIEZA for infrastructure.”
“With this statement, Puyat has, first, admitted that other sectors other than the tourism industry also need help; and second, adopted a bothersome stand against TIEZA considering that she is the chairperson of its board,” Canama said.
“We wonder where Romulo-Puyat’s true interests lie. Is it with the 5.7 million workers in the tourism industry and their dependents, or with her elite circle in the Tourism Congress of the Philippines?” he added.
Canama asked why a Cabinet official who is in charge of TIEZA, a state-run firm, would want to deprive tourism stakeholders of P10 billion for infrastructure investments that would provide jobs for displaced workers and inject a multiplier effect of P35 billion into the economy.
Buhay Partylist Rep. Lito Atienza, however, disagreed with Canama’s view, as he questioned the proposed P10-billion funding for TIEZA under Bayanihan To Recover As One Act or Bayanihan 2 Law, which, he said, could be “pork barrel” fund.
“Infrastructure is the new word for pork barrel. It’s very callous of a group of some congressmen to remove the fund meant to help businesses and provide employment,” Atienza said.
Atienza also criticized his fellow legislators who have advocated the transfer of the fund to TIEZA, which the party-list congressman said was “completely unacceptable and wrong move on the part of Congress.”
“Bayanihan 2 is supposed to be a stimulus program that will help businesses and affected workers, including those in tourism industry. This (transfer to TIEZA) will just exacerbate the situation and lead to more unemployment in the country,” Atienza said.
Atienza likewise welcomed the move of Romulo-Puyat and former tourism secretaries to oppose the move as he also expressed support to the version of the Senate to put P10 billion in stimulus package to the tourism industry.
He also supported the call for the bicameral conference committee to realign the P10 billion intended for the tourism sector to DOT instead of TIEZA.
Earlier, Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez made a similar call, saying it is not infrastructure by TIEZA that is needed at the moment but rather direct assistance to stakeholders in the tourism industry directly hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Rodriguez said millions of employees in various establishments and small enterprises have lost their jobs and source of income.
He specifically appealed to the bicameral committee on the proposed Bayanihan 2 or We Recover as One law to realign P10 billion intended for the tourism sector.