The government agencies are teaming up to further develop manpower in the sector.
Priority areas for funding include: the construction, or improvement of facilities and/or demo labs for tourism and hospitality-related courses including the purchase of industry-grade equipment to support the facility; funding for industry immersion program and career development for teachers and studentsm
It will also see support for technology innovations or digitalization in tourism and hospitality programs; start-up/incubation centers on tourism and hospitality; research and development for enhancement of tourism-related programs and courses; and to tourism education-related programs and education tourism programs to be implemented in partnership with the DOT and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).
On Monday, March 24, the Department of Tourism (DOT); Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) signed a Joint Administrative Order (JAO).
The ceremonial signing held at at the National Museum of Natural History in the City of Manila was led by several officials, led by Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco, Assistant Chief Operating Officer Karen Mae Sarinas-Baydo representing TIEZA Chief Operating Officer Mark Lapid, and CHED Chairperson J. Prospero De Vera III.
The order establishes guidelines to ensure efficient and proper execution of the laws, and transparency in the utilization of the Higher Education Development Fund (HEDF).
The newly signed JAO outlines how these funds will be utilized to advance tourism education and development.
Under Section 10 of Republic Act 7722 or the Higher Education Act of 1994, the law states that the continuing government’s contribution to the HEDF shall be taken from the 40% annual share on the total gross collections of the travel tax; 30% annual share of the collections from the Professional Registration Fee; and 1% of the gross sale of the lotto operation of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
Further, Section 73 of the Republic Act 9593 or the Tourism Act of 2009, states that the contribution to the HEDF equivalent to forty percent (40%) from the total gross collections of the travel tax shall be retained, provided that tourism-related educational programs and courses is given priority by the CHED.
In her speech during the event, Tourism Secretary Frasco emphasized that the mandate of the DOT is not just to promote but to develop tourism.
“𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳, 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳-𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘑𝘈𝘖, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘹𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥-𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴,” she said.
CHED Chairperson De Vera, meanwhile, expressed his pleasure that the JAO on the guidelines on the utilization of HEDF has been signed by the three bodies.
“𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘶𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥,” he said.
He also added that they will be able to provide more grants for research and development, as well as enhance tourism-related programs and courses, with the JAO paving the way for more tourism and hospitality development programs to be prioritized in the future.
For their part, TIEZA Assistant Chief Operating Officer (COO) Karen Mae Sarinas-Baydo, shared that over the past 10 years, the DOT’s infrastructure arm has remitted PHP17.3 billion to CHED.