Council eyes to penalize illegal tourism businesses

THE CITY Council is considering heavier penalties on tourism-related businesses operating illegally, including those that delay the renewal of their permits.

The proposal, which was submitted for first reading on Tuesday, is based on a resolution of the Davao City Chinatown Development Council for the crafting of an ordinance amid the recent reports of the proliferation of illegal operators in the city.

According to Councilor Myrna Dalodo-Ortiz, chair of the Committee on Tourism and Beautification, said that in the proposed resolution, Regina Rosa D. Tecson, acting head of the City Tourism Operations Office (CTOO), along with the Business Bureau, have conducted weekly inspections in efforts to reconcile and validate the data on the existing and new tourism establishments in the city.

“The recommendation is to strictly require all establishments to comply the necessary permits and licenses before operating and to impose penalties for non- compliant establishments identified with Business Permits but no Tourism Licenses, Late renewals, operating without Business Permits and Tourism Licenses,” Ortiz said in her proposal.

The Tourism Council of Davao City, as reflected in the proposal, agreed to the motion that all establishments shall be given a period of 30 days to comply their Tourism Licenses after the issuance of Business Permit from the Business Bureau. “Hence, establishments which cannot comply within the given period will be penalized for every month thereafter,” the proposal reads. The proposal suggests that establishments that cannot comply within the given period will be penalized every month. For establishments with business permits but no tourism licenses, they will be fined P1,000 per month. Late renewals of a tourism license will be penalized P1,000 per month, while those operating without business permits and tourism license will have the penalty of P2,000 per month.