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Lesson 3: The Philippine Tourism Act of 2009

Learning Objectives:
1. To be familiar with the Tourism Act of 2009 (RA9593).
2. To examine the importance of RA9593.
3. To explain the functions of the DOT and its attached agencies.
Introduction
In the Philippines, Republic Act 9593, also known as the Tourism Act of 2009 was
recently enacted in May 12, 2009. The law is considered as the Omnibus Tourism Code in the
Philippines. The state’s perspective of tourism is seen through the direct contributions on job
creation, foreign exchange generation and stimulation of large and usually foreign
investments.

This lesson gives the students the opportunity to deeply understand the provision of
the law and to examine the roles and functions of the different agencies that is involved in
maximizing the potential of tourism as an engine for socio-economic growth.

A. The Tourism Act of 2009

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9593

AN ACT DECLARING A NATIONAL POLICY FOR TOURISM AS AN ENGINE OF
INVESTMENT, EMPLOYMENT, GROWTH AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AND
STRENGTHENING THE DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM AND ITS ATTACHED
AGENCIES TO EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY IMPLEMENT THAT POLICY,
AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR

The new law RA 9593, The Tourism Act of 2009, was established on May 12, 2009
as a policy that acknowledges tourism as an “indispensable element of national economy and
an industry of national interest and importance.” In the law, tourism is seen as an industry
that must be harnessed to stimulate socio-economic growth and cultural affirmation to cause
investments, foreign exchange and employment. The main objective of the law is to
strengthen the Department of Tourism (DOT) and its attached agencies to efficiently and
effectively implement tourism in the Philippines. The DOT is the authority in charge of
product development, regulating and monitoring and stimulating investments of the tourism
sector.
 Approved by former President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo (PGMA) on May 12, 2009
and published in the Official Gazette on July 13, 2009. Approved by Congress as SENATE
BILL 2213/HOUSE BILL 5229. The Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR)was signed
on November 10, 2009 and published November 12, 2009; The law was signed by former
PGMA during the “One Visayas Summit on Climate Change” at Imperial Palace, Cebu City.

B. What is the mandate of the Department of Tourism (DOT)?

The DOT is the primary planning, programming, coordinating, implementing and

regulatory government agency in the development and promotion of the tourism industry,
both domestic and international, in coordination with attached agencies and other government
instrumentalities. It shall instill in the Filipino the industry’s fundamental importance in the
generation of employment, investment and foreign exchange.

What are some of DOT’s powers and functions?

The DOT shall prepare a market development program to attract people to visit
the Philippines and enhance the prestige of the country and the Filipino people
in the international community. It shall also represent the government in all
domestic and international conferences and fora, and in all multilateral or bilateral treaties
and international agreements concerning tourism.

What is the structure of DOT?

The DOT shall consist of the Department Proper (Offices of the Secretary,
Undersecretaries and Assistant Secretaries), Department Offices, Services and Unit, and the
Regional and Foreign Offices. The Department Offices are:

1. Office of Product Development. – Functions include the conceptualization and

development of new products which will enhance tourism sites and facilities and
encouraging joint undertakings with the private sector for the development of new
tourism-related products and programs.

2. Office of Tourism Development Planning, Research and Information Management. –

Tasked with the preparation, formulation monitoring and evaluation of policies, plans
and programs of the DOT, including the National Tourism Development Plan. It is
also tasked with sourcing of grants or loans from local and foreign funding
institutions to implement tourism policies, plans and projects, as well as pursuing
 DOT’s interests in multilateral, international, and regional tourism cooperation,
agreements and treaties.

3. Office of Industry Manpower Development. – It is tasked, among others, of

conducting seminars on Philippine history, culture, environment and related subjects,
in coordination with appropriate government agencies and the private sector, as well
as encouraging the development of training courses and apprenticeship programs for
tourist guides and other similar workers jointly with concerned tourism enterprises,
appropriate government agencies and the private sector.

4. Office of Tourism Standards and Regulations. – Tasked with formulating and

enforcing internationally competitive standards of facilities and services.

5. Office of Tourism Coordination. – Tasked to increase linkages between various

government offices and the private sector and among the various entities in the private
sector itself to properly implement tourism policy, including the function of
supporting the private sector in all tourism activities requiring governmental
coordination.

6. Office of Tourism Resource Generation. – This office is tasked with the collection of
necessary fees and charges which shall be used by the DOT in the promotion and
marketing efforts of the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB ) and the development of
infrastructure facilities, utilities and services of the Tourism Infrastructure and
Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA). The proceeds of such collection shall accrue
directly and automatically to the DOT.

What is the Tourism Development Fund? This is a special fund created under this law, to
be disbursed and administered by the DOT. It shall be used for the development, promotion
and marketing of tourism and other projects of the DOT that will boost tourism in the
country. The Fund shall be sourced from the fees and charges which will be collected by the
DOT. A special account shall be established for this Fund in the National Treasury.

What Agencies and Corporations are attached to the DOT? The following shall be
attached to the DOT and shall be under the supervision of the Secretary for program and
policy coordination:

1. Tourism Promotions Board (TPB). The Philippine Conventions and Visitors

Corporation (PCVC) is hereby reorganized as the TPB. The Bureaus for Domestic
 and International Tourism Promotions, and the Office of Tourism Information of the
DOT, are hereby absorbed into the TPB.

2. Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA). The Philippine

Tourism Authority (PTA) is reorganized as the TIEZA.

3. Duty-Free Philippines Corporation (DFPC). It shall be a body corporate to operate

the duty-and tax-free merchandising system in the Philippines to augment the service
facilities for tourists and to generate foreign exchange and revenue for the
government. The Duty-Free Philippines shall be reorganized to become the DFPC.

4.

Intramuros Administration.

5. National Parks Development Committee.

6. Nayong Pilipino Foundation.

7. Philippine Retirement Authority.

8. Philippine Commission on Sports Scuba Diving, which shall undertake measures to

provide the standard basic dive rules to all levels or kinds of divers, regulate scuba
sports and technical diving in the country and ensure the safety of the sport through
the formulation of policies pursuant thereto, in coordination with the Office of
Tourism Standards and Regulations, including the regulation of the accredited scuba
sports and technical diving establishments.
Tourism Infrastructure Program. The DOT, in accordance with the National Tourism
Development Plan and local government initiatives, shall coordinate with the Department of
Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Transportation and
Communications (DOTC) in the establishment of a tourism infrastructure program in the
respective work programs of said agencies, identifying therein vital access roads, airports,
seaports and other infrastructure requirement in identified tourism areas. The said agencies
and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) shall accord priority status to the
funding of this tourism infrastructure program.

Department of Tourism Organizational Chart and its Attached Agencies

C. The Local Government Units and Tourism

The Local Government Code of 1991 (LGC 1991) states, “the national government

shall ensure that decentralization contributes to the continuing performance of local

government units and quality of the community life (LGC Ch 1, section 3K, M)”. The
provisions in the RA 9593 also adhere to the objective of decentralization and autonomy of

the LGUs. Also, it recognizes the need for building capacities and supporting the

development of LGUs. It states, “the DOT shall develop support and training programs to

enhance the capability of LGUs to monitor and administer tourism activities, and enforce

tourism laws, rules and regulations in their respective jurisdictions.

While the LGUs in the new law is planner, coordinator and implementer of tourism,

the DOT also plans, coordinates, and implements national tourism plans which are in the pre-

identified tourist sites. The downside of this situation can create a dependency with national

agencies specially for majority of the LGUs without tourism development plans. Also,

dependency can also be created for those LGU which usually delegate this function either to

the wife of the mayor or his children, and those LGUs which treat tourism as an additional

revenue for the LGU rather than the community. The upside of this situation is that the new

law treats the LGU as the integrator and coordinator of local and national tourism

development (Sub Chapter II Sec. 35).

The financial and technical assistance downloaded to the LGUs are in the form of the

tourism development plans, gathering of statistical data, enforcement of tourism laws and

regulation, giving priorities to these areas that have been identified as strategic. In terms of

capacity building undoing, it shall be shared equitably between the Department and the LGUs

concerned (RA 9593, CH 2, Sec 41)”. It also states, that the National Government be charged

with “enhance capability-building of local government units (LGUs), in partnership with the

private sector, in the management of local tourism projects and initiatives, thereby ensuring

accessible and affordable destinations throughout the country, especially in areas which have

shown strong comparative advantage (Ch 1, Sec 2n)” Yet in terms of providing technical

support, the DOT and RA 9593 has limited responsibility and capabilities for local tourism

development planning.
 Further, tourism enterprise accreditation is a function of DOT. The DOT has the

prerogative to give this function of accreditation to the LGU if they have complied with the

creation of a Local Tourism Development Plan making the LGU only as a repository of

information of the DOT action for erring tourism enterprises (Sub Chapter 2 Sec 39).

With regards to planning, coordination and implementation, the DOT sees the “TEZ

as the vehicle to coordinate actions of the public and private sectors to address development

barriers, attract and focus investment on specific geographic areas and upgrade product and

service quality (RA 9593, Ch.1, Sec 2q)”. The focus of planning implementation and

coordination is focused on the TEZ as the primary proponent not the LGU. The DOT and

TIEZA in effect can perform the role as the enabler of LGU to plan and implement their local

development tourism initiatives. However, from an extreme side, it may undermine the

authority of the LGU to initiate LGU and community-based destination development

initiatives, as the TEZ are pre-identified, including the ecotourism sites.

The operating mechanisms of the new law have divergence over the Local

Government Code of 1991 (LGC 1991) which states, “the National agencies and offices with

project implementation functions shall coordinate with one another and with the local

government units concerned in the discharge of these functions, they shall ensure

participation of LGUs both in the planning and implementation of said national projects”.

Further, tourism as a function is a devolved to the local governments where the LGC of 1991

states, that “tourism facilities and other tourist attractions, including the acquisition of

equipment, regulation and supervision of business concessions, and security services for such

facilities including tourism development and promotion programs is delegated to the local

governments (LGC 1991, Sec. 17)”.

Summary
 The new law RA 9593 in light of the potentials of tourism in poverty reduction within

the framework of local governance. It can be seen that tourism in the new law in general

concerns itself with the creation of job opportunities, foreign exchange and investments with

the ultimate goal of poverty reduction. RA 9593 recognizes that tourism can stimulate the

growth of local socioeconomic situation of the poor, tourism is primarily viewed as

contributor to national economic growth.

The communities must actively engage in the shaping of the Local Tourism

Development Plan and take on in building their own capabilities. This may happen by joining

LGU or DOT sponsored trainings or organizing relevant trainings and seminars under its

technical assistance program. A focus can be made not only on their natural and human

resource but also on their cultural heritage as tourism which can be a competitive advantage

for market development.

Activity 1:

Case Study: “Philippine Tourism Act of 2009: tourism policy formulation analysis from
Multiple Streams” and answer the following questions:
Activity 2
The Tourism Decade is a celebration of the tourism industry's achievements, ten
Republic Act 9593 was signed into law. Can tourism
change the lives of Filipinos? Watch these locals share
personal stories of how tourism brought them closer to
their dreams.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJH2iFVTgwc
This video has presented the different success stories brought about by tourism. Choose one
story (pls. click the link https://thetourismdecade.philippines.travel/#section-carousel) and
write a reaction paper. Include an overview and how has tourism contributed in changing
their lives, and incorporate its impact on you.(200 words, Arial 12)
References:
Dela Santa, E., & Saporsantos, J. (2016). Philippine Tourism Act of 2009: tourism policy
formulation analysis from Multiple Streams. Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure
and Events, 8(1), 53-70.

Javier, A. & Ferido, M. (2010). Can Tourism be Pro Poor? The Tourism Act of 2009 and the
Local Government of the Philippines.
https://www2.gsid.nagoya-u.ac.jp/blog/anda/files/2010/06/12_aser-javier.pdf

Republic Act of 2009. https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2009/05/12/republic-act-no-9593-

s-2009/
www.tourism.gov.ph
https://thetourismdecade.philippines.travel/