See the world

It’s a beautiful planet, this home we call Earth.

Yet, somehow, we humans keep on destroying it, lambasting it with garbage and air pollutants, killing its forests and along with it the fauna, and destroying ecosystems.

It’s not a new story — we know how it goes, how it has always been. Capitalism, the top culprit for the slow, agonizing death of our planet, our Mother Earth, always wins. Greed always gets its way.

“It’s just a tree,” I have heard it said a few times.

Super typhoons that pass through our country raze agricultural areas, and farmers plant again. But in cities, tall trees older than the houses and buildings around them are chopped down or poisoned because they might destroy rooftops and vehicles if the strong winds bring them down.

Fear-guided decisions are not sustainable. Should we not learn instead to work with nature? It is designed to benefit us, after all, not destroy us.

The story of Jadev “Molai” Payeng, the boy who did not let a sandy, barren place deter him from growing an entire forest, is one that should inspire us to heal our planet. Each one of us can do so much to mitigate and alleviate the planet’s dire situation.

Much has been destroyed, yes, but it is not too late to recover what has been lost. Technology and science can work to regain our environment’s health — we only have to buckle down and do it, and do it consistently.

Because if you have done some traveling and seen some of the world, you would be able to tell that our archipelago — blessed abundantly with natural beauty — needs our help to shine as brightly as our Asian neighbors. We already have the essential ingredients, so to speak, but we need to maintain and sustain them. Cleanliness, accessibility, and safety are the added flavors to keep tourists, local or international, coming back.

It is no wonder our tourism sector has gotten flak. With travel taxes and even environmental fees, how come not all our tourism infrastructure and destinations are as ideal as they could be? How are these taxes being used?

Approved on third and final reading over one month ago at the House of Representatives, House Bill 8464, or the “Travel Tax Abolition Act of 2026,” seems to be gathering dust in the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, Tourism and Finance.

The lower chamber approved the bill with 257 votes on 16 March. The upper chamber has yet to pass its own version of the bill before it can be reconciled and signed into law.

The whole process will likely see vegetable seeds sprout and grow enough to be harvested.

Meantime, Filipino travelers will still be charged the travel tax. As air travel becomes even more prohibitive with fuel surcharges rising because of the crisis in the Middle East, staying put is the only practical option.

The travel tax, like the environmental tax, has been a bane for Filipino tourists traveling abroad or to popular domestic destinations like Boracay. Scrapping these taxes would make travel more affordable for all. But, for now, can we even say that it is infinitely more affordable to travel around our country?

We know the answer to that.