THE House of Representatives approved on third and final reading a bill that seeks to declare the entire Southern Leyte province a tourism zone.
With this, Southern Leyte Lone Distrcit Rep. Roger Mercado, one of the authors of the measure has asked the Senate to make the bill a priority.
"It is my hope the Senate will act favorably on HB 6932 for the over 422 thousand residents of Southern Leyte," he said.
Mercado said the tourism zone status conferred by HB 6932 is needed because it would authorize the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the TIEZA (Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority) to get involved in upgrading the provinces facilities and capacity to attend to tourists.
The said bill, once enacted, should be implemented by the DOT and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
The funding of which shall be included in the annual General Apporpriations Act and from internally generated funds of the DOT.
Davao 1st District Rep. Karlo Nograles co-authored the bill. (SunStar Philippines)