Inconvenient airport locations and subpar terminal design are actively dragging down local travel numbers across the country, Senator Erwin Tulfo warned transport officials on Friday during a Senate budget hearing for the Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) proposed 2027 allocation.
Calling out a “big problem” in domestic tourism figures, Tulfo criticized current regional transit routes that force vacationers to take unnecessary detours just to reach popular island destinations.
“We have so many islands only accessible via turboprop but tourists need to go to Clark Airport first to ride these planes. Can we do something about this?” the lawmaker asked DOTr agency heads. “I went around the country the past few months and the arrival for domestic tourist destinations really declined. We have to do something to fast track making the transportation accessible to domestic tourists.”
In response, DOTr Secretary Giovanni Lopez acknowledged the infrastructure bottlenecks and noted that extending and widening airport runways remains one option to accommodate additional turboprop aircraft. However, Lopez pointed out spatial limitations, explaining that restricted land area at several prospective regional sites hinders runway expansion.
Tulfo also urged transport authorities to modernize passenger boarding facilities, pushing for better accessibility standards to accommodate senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs).
“The DOTr should make it a policy to incorporate tubes in designing airport facilities. The design should cater to commonsensical concerns of passengers and tourists,” Tulfo suggested.