Should there be no hitches in the implementation of the Carmen government’s proposal, the entrance fee for adults at the Chocolate Hills Complex starting 2018 will be raised to P100, a 100 percent surge from the current fee of P50.
In his letter to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan dated September 6, 2017, Carmen Mayor Ricardo Toribio cited Section 6E.02 of the town’s Revenue Code which mandates the increase.
The measure was passed on August 11, 2014 and was supposed to take effect on January 1, 2015, Toribio said.
The mayor pointed out that it is high time for the increase to be implemented as the rehabilitation of the quake-hit complex has been completed.
Thirty percent of the Chocolate Hills Complex’s net income goes to the provincial government while the 70 percent goes to the local government unit of Carmen.
According to Toribio, the town’s 29 villages are also allocated sums from the LGU’s earnings for their solid waste management programs and the maintenance of barangay roads.
Meanwhile, three panels of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) discussed the planned increase at the SP conference room on Wednesday.
The assembly was led by Board Member Elpidio Jala who chairs the SP’s committee on ways and means, while he was joined by members of the legislative body’s tourism and appropriations committees.
In their discussions, the committees found out that the entrance fee increase was supposed to be implemented in 2015 but this failed to push through due to damages caused by the 2013 Bohol Earthquake.
The panels then decided to raise the issue before the Office of the Governor, Provincial Legal Office and Provincial Tourism Council for further scrutiny. (R. Tutas)