R.A. 1478

REPUBLIC ACT No. 1478

AN ACT TO CREATE A BOARD OF TRAVEL AND TOURIST INDUSTRY, DEFINING ITS POWERS, DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

Section 1. There is hereby created a Board of Travel and Tourist Industry to regulate international travel and tourism with a view to the development of a prosperous Philippine tourist industry. The Board shall be composed of the Secretary of Commerce as Chairman and the under secretaries of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Justice and Public Works and Communications, the President of the Philippines Chamber of Commerce and the President of the Philippine Tourist and Travel Association, as members.

Section 2. The Board shall have the following responsibilities and duties:

Section 3. To carry out the aims and purposes of this Act, a tax shall be collected on all fares of passengers leaving the country as well as fares for those returning or coming in, if payable here, at the following rates:

Section two hundred and twenty-eight of Commonwealth Act Numbered Four hundred and sixty-six, as amended, is repealed.

Section 4. This tax shall be collected from the passengers by the carriers and travel agencies issuing foreign travel passenger tickets and they, in turn, shall remit their collections within the first ten days of every succeeding quarter to the Board of Travel and Tourist Industry.

Section 5. An amount not in excess of 50 per cent of such collections and all those which may be effected under section six shall accrue to the funds of the Board to be spent under its authority exclusively for the development of tourist facilities and the promotion of tourism both within the country and abroad, through all well-known media but especially through foreign publicity and advertising. The other fifty per cent shall accrue to the general funds of the Government and shall be accounted for and delivered by the Board of Travel and Tourist Industry to the Treasurer of the Philippines.

Section 6. The Board shall regulate travel agency business, prescribing the necessary rules to be govern their establishment and operation. It shall fix and collect an annual license fee from every individual or group engaged in the travel agency business in an amount not in excess of one hundred pesos a year. No individual or firm shall engage in the travel agency business without being licensed by the Board of Travel and Tourist Industry.

Section 7. In the exercise of its supervisory powers over facilities and services catering to or having anything to do with foreign travelers and tourists, the Board shall prescribe rules and regulations for their operation and maintenance. In case of non-compliance with such rules and regulations, it shall take the necessary steps to cancel or recommend the cancellation of the permits of the offending parties or their prosecution, if warranted.

Section 8. For the purpose of strengthening the competitive position of the Philippines in the field of international tourism, the President of the Philippines, upon recommendation of the Board, may:

Section 9. The Philippine Tourist and Travel Association, Inc., which under its charter, Republic Act Numbered Seven hundred and ten is the exclusive agency of the government in the promotion of the tourist industry, shall be the instrumentality of the Board in carrying out the objectives of this Act.

Section 10. The Board shall pass upon the requirements of the said Association and make available out of its revenues as provided for in sections five and six above such sums may be necessary for carrying out its program of activities.

Section 11. The Board of Travel and Tourist Industry shall, five days before the opening of the regular sessions of Congress, submit to Congress a verified detailed report of its collections, disbursements, and activities including those of the Philippine Tourist and Travel Association, Inc. and of its accomplishments and a copy of the plantilla as of December thirty-first of the year immediately preceding.

Section 12. All provisions of law contrary to the provisions of this Act or are inconsistent with its aims and objectives are hereby repealed.

Section 13. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: June 15, 1956