House Bill Moving PSC Under Tourism Dept. Passes Second Reading

The House of Representatives on Monday passed on second reading a bill that would transfer the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) from the Office of the President to the Department of Tourism (DOT). House Bill No. 10896 aims to reorganize the PSC, placing it under the DOT's purview. This transfer is intended to strengthen the synergy between sports and tourism, by leveraging sports events to attract tourists and developing sports facilities as tourism assets. In the Philippines, sports events are seen as having the potential to draw both domestic and international visitors, and attaching the PSC to the DOT is considered a strategic move to maximize this potential. While the integration of sports promotion with related industries has been discussed previously, this bill seeks to create tangible synergistic effects by more directly linking the PSC's functions with the DOT's tourism promotion strategies. If this bill is ultimately enacted, new developments are anticipated for both the Philippine sports sector and the tourism industry.