The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) called on the local government unit (LGU) of Carmen to put on hold its planned 100-percent increase of entrance fee at the Chocolate Hills Complex.
SP members aired their appeal through a resolution filed during a regular session on Friday last week urging local officials to defer the large fee hike.
The resolution was passed amid the Carmen LGUs plan to raise the entrance fee at the tourism complex to P100 from P50 starting January 1, 2018.
Last week, a multi-agency panel led by Governor Edgar Chatto was supposed to discuss the fee hike but the meeting was postponed.
Carmen Mayor Ricardo Toribio was reportedly unavailable during the scheduled meeting Wednesday which was expected to be attended by Provincial Tourism Council chair Lucas Nunag and SP tourism committee chair Board Member Kristine Alexie Tutor.
A new schedule for the meeting has not yet been set, said acting Provincial Administrator John Mitchell Boiser just days before the expected implementation of the fee hike.
Toribio previously bared that the fee increase was supposed to be implemented on January 1, 2015 but the move was deferred due to ongoing repairs at the quake-hit structure.
In his letter to the SP dated September 6, 2017, Toribio cited Section 6E.02 of the town’s Revenue Code as basis for the fee hike.
The measure was passed on August 11, 2014, he said.