Cebu Pacific seeks extended travel tax exemption for some SE Asia routes

Cebu Pacific on Tuesday urged the government to extend the travel tax exemption on routes within Palawan, Mindanao and neighboring Southeast Asian countries, which expires next month.

Travelers coming from the two Philippine islands who are going to Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia were exempted from the P1,620 duty for 3 years from Oct. 24, 2014 to promote BIMP-EAGA, a Southeast Asian growth area.

President Rodrigo Duterte also recently pushed for the revitalization of the BIMP-EAGA or the Brunei-Indoneseia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asia Growth Area.

“We believe that this would provide relief to the Filipino travelers and accelerate trade and tourism between the member countries, in accordance with the spirit and intent behind the creation of BIMP-EAGA,” said Cebu Pacific vice president for corporate affairs JR Mantaring.

The Mindanao Development Authority serves as the Coordinating Office of the Philippines for BIMP-EAGA.

Cebu Pacific subsidiary Cebgo will start its Zamboanga-Sandakan route on October 29, 2017. The 4 times weekly service (Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays) is the carrier’s 27th international destination.