EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 499 February 15, 1978
GOVERNING THE RELEASE OF TRAVEL TAXES COLLECTED UNDER R.A. NO. 1478 AND 6141 (AS AMENDED)
WHEREAS, travel taxes collected under R.A. No. 1478 and 6141, as amended by P.D. No. 1183 and 1205 are the primary sources of funding for the operating expenses of the Philippine Tourism Authority, including those for tourism development projects approved by the President;
WHEREAS, P.D. No. 1234 institutes a procedure for the management of Special and Fiduciary Funds of the national government;
WHEREAS, it is necessary to have an efficient mechanism for the release of travel tax proceeds to the Philippine Tourism Authority while maintaining an adequate system of fiscal control.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution and by Sec. 3 of P.D. No. 1234, do hereby approve and order a fund release mechanism to the Philippine Tourism Authority of travel tax proceeds;
Sec. 1. All proceeds of the travel tax shall be utilized exclusively for the operations and special projects of the Philippine Tourism Authority, subject to the approval of Special Budgets as provided for by Sec. 40 of P.D. No. 1177: Provided, That funds for regular operating expenses shall be automatically released by the Budget Commission upon approval of the agency's staffing pattern and estimates of maintenance and operating expenditures and equipment requirements: Provided, Further, That fund releases for expenditures on capital outlays and special undertakings shall be subject to specific approval by the President.
Sec. 2. Collections from the travel tax shall be remitted to the Treasury in accordance with existing rules and regulations. The needs of the Philippine Tourism Authority shall be funded through the usual budgetary and fund release mechanism, which shall be done on an annual basis for current operating expenditures and on a case to case basis for special projects and capital outlays. Fund releases during CY 1978 shall be made from the General Fund Adjustments item in P.D. No. 1250. The estimates of budgetary requirements for CY 1979 and subsequent years shall be duly provided for in the General Appropriations Decrees and supported by travel tax proceeds.
Sec. 3. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately.
Done in the City of Manila, this 15th day of February, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-eight.
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