DOT: Monitoring of LGU compliance on Tourism Act should be included next year

TACLOBAN CITY – Monitoring of local government compliance on Tourism Act of 2009 should be included in next year’s task list of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), an official said.
 
During the recent Regional Development Council (RDC) meeting, Tourism Regional Director Karina Rosa Tiopes said that compliance to the Tourism Law should be traced by DILG considering tourism is one of the priority sectors under the 2011-2016 Regional Development Plan (RDP).

 “We noted in the DILG proposed budget that there’s a category for monitoring of LGU compliance to national laws and policies, may we request the DILG that the Tourism Law should be included,” Tiopes added.

 DILG Assistant Regional Director Arnel Agabe said that they will consider the recommendation in support to the shared responsibilities of the DOT and DILG in the implementation of Tourism Act.

 “Our 2013 budget is centered on promoting peace and order, ensure public safety, and help LGUs improve their performance in complying national policies,” Agabe said.

 The DILG is proposing an operational budget of P10.11 million for 2013 to finance various activities designed to raise the capability of LGUs.

 Among the national policies included in the list with proposed budget for monitoring of LGU compliance are violence against women and their children, anti-red tape, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction management, business processing,  Millennium Development Goals, peace and order, gender and development, and access to safe water. Tiopes said that eco-tourism development is one of the three priorities of the six-year plan and there’s a need for the DILG to look into the LGUs compliance to the new Tourism Act. Under its section 35 , the DOT, DILG and LGUs are mandated to integrate and coordinate local and national plans fo tourism development.

 The law directs LGUs to prepare, implement, and monitor their tourism development plans, gathering of statistical data, and enforcement of tourism laws and regulations, giving due priority to areas that have been identified as strategic in the implementation of the national tourism development plan.

 The DOT is tasked to provide financial and technical assistance, training and other capacity-building measures to ensure that LGUs will implement such plans.  (SARWELL Q. MENIANO)

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