by Lorelyn Centino
ENTRANCE FEE. Tourists line up to pay the entrance fee for Botanical garden, Baguio City.
City councilors are still on the process of crafting a comprehensive
environmental user's fee (EUF) ordinance which is set to allow the collection
of fees from all tourists, travelers and guests who visit tourist destinations in
Baguio City.
The proposed ordinance which was already approved on first reading by
the city council in January 2020 is authored by Maria Mylen Victoria G. Yaranon
of the Committee on Public Works and Joel Alangsab of the Committee on
Health and Sanitation, Ecology, and Environmental Protection.
According to the official website of the city government, the EUF to be
collected is Php75. Alangsab said that they are yet to put together all the
proposals since there are a lot of things to consider.
"Of course, we have to include how much we are going to charge and how will
we charge considering we have so many routes coming up to the city of
Baguio" Alangsab explained.
According to Leonah Vianne Rentazida, a tourist from Quezon City, the
collection of EUF is already implemented in Manila and it will generate funds
to help the city. She further stated that it will only be beneficial if
the fees to be collected will be used appropriately.
"Okay naman din basta yung pera mapupunta sa maganda hindi ibubulsa" Rentazida said.
[It's okay as long as the money will be used for a good cause and will not be
corrupted]
Under the proposed EUF system, fees to be collected will be an additional
source of funding to finance the conservation, protection and management of
various tourist sites and will be used for the plans and projects on tourism that
will cater to environmental protection and development.
Irresponsible Waste Disposal
Councilor Alangsab stressed on the environmental problems associated with
the state of tourism in Baguio city.
"We had a problem in the past, of course, regards on how to maintain the
cleanliness of our parks and all other areas being visited by tourists going to
Baguio," he said.
He also mentioned how the volume of garbage left by tourists in the city
greatly increased during the holidays to a point where cleaning personnel can
no longer keep up.
"When tourists do come gaya nung nakaraan na napopost pa sa social media
yung mga turistang pumupunta, dito iniiwan nila yung sako-sakong basura
nila. Of course, hindi yun kaya ng mga people in charge of cleaning because
of the volume," he narrated.
[When tourists do come, just like what happened recently which
was even posted on social media, they leave behind several sacks of garbage
in the city. Of course, people in charge of cleaning
can't handle it because of the volume.]
To avoid similar cases, Alangsab said that charging tourists with an
environmental fee like what other local government units have already
implemented would be a probable solution.
However, he admitted that they still need to specify the details of the
ordinance and there are still a lot of things to consider such as the amount to
be collected, the means of collection and the measure to distinguish tourists
from locals.
Impact on Tourism and Business
Jeanne Dela Cruz, Patricia Torre and Baby Rosary Pascual who were tourists
from Manila visiting the Botanical Garden expressed their opposition on the
implementation of the ordinance.
"Baka kakaunti na ang magpupunta dito dahil mahal na kasi nasanay sila sa
10 pesos tsaka 5 [pesos], kapag 75 [pesos] mabigat na kaya yan," Dela Cruz
said.
[There might be lesser visitors to come because they were used to a Php10
and Php5 entrance fee, Php 75 pesos is a large amount already]
"Kasi ang problema diyan kapag naumpisahan na, hindi na rin yan bababa,
tuloy tuloy na yan tataas lang pero hindi na bababa," Pascual seconded.
[The problem, if it was already started is that it (the fee) will no longer
decrease, it will continuously increase but never decrease]
They argued that if the city implements the collection of EUF, it will bring a
negative impact on tourism as tourists who wish to visit tourist spots in Baguio
will lessen due to the amount that will be charged on them.
"Ang gobyerno may budget naman para diyan. Hindi dapat ang mga local na
government ang magcollect," Torre said.
[The government has allocated a budget for it. It shouldn't be the job of local
governments to collect (fees)]
Some souvenir vendors in Botanical Garden also raised their concerns
regarding the lessened number of customers and their reduced sales since
the collection of entrance fees were implemented in the place.
Entrance fees, around Php10, in Botanical Garden and
Mines View Park were already approved and implemented since first week of
February.
Edited by Dayanella Jucutan