DOJ Opinion No. 003, s. 1996

DOJ OPINION NO. 003 , s. 1996 January 5, 1996 Undersecretary Romeo L. Bernardo Department of finance Manila Sir : This refers to your request for a legal opinion on the applicability of Presidential Decree No. 1957 ("Increasing the International Airport Passenger Terminal Fee and Abolishing the Increase in the Travel Tax Provided Under Presidential Decree No. 1935, as amended by Presidential Decree No. 1951, and for the Other Purposes") to the Mactan, Laoag and Davao airports. The pertinent provision of P.D. No. 1957 reads as follows: "SECTION 1. There is hereby imposed on all departing passengers at the Manila and other international airports a fee of One Hundred Pesos, in addition to the terminal fee currently imposed under MIAA Administrative Order No. 1, Series of 1984, in relation to Executive Order Nos. 778 and 903 and Batas Pambansa Blg. 825; Provided, That passengers exempted under Section 10, MIAA Administrative Order No. 1, Series of 1984, shall be exempted from the additional terminal fee imposed hereunder. The additional terminal fee shall be paid at the same time and in the same manner as the terminal fee imposed under MIAA Administrative Order No. 1, Series of 1984." dctai You state that pursuant to the aforequoted provision, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), a government corporation, is collecting the additional fee of P100.00 per departing passenger; that the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority, also a government corporation, is collecting a passenger terminal fee (PTF) but has not remitted to the National Government its share from the PTF; that in the case of Laoag and Davao airports, which are both under the Air Transportation Office (ATO) of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), the collection of PTF is not yet fully implemented because international flights are still irregular; and that the instant request has arisen in line with the efforts of your Office to identify more sources of revenues for the National Government. Section 1 of Presidential Decree No. 1957 clearly provides that "a fee of One Hundred Pesos" is "imposed on all departing passengers at the Manila and other international airports", in addition to the terminal fee being collected under existing laws and regulations. On the premise that the Mactan, Laoag and Davao airports are international airports, we do not see any reason why Presidential Decree No. 1957 will not apply to them ex propio vogore. It is axiomatic that when the words and phrases of a statute are not obscure or ambiguous, its meaning and legislative intent are to be determined from the language employed (Aparri vs. Court of Appeals, 127 SCRA 321) because the law must be taken to mean exactly what it says (Insular Bank of Asia and America Employees Union [IBAAEU] vs. Inciong, 132 SCRA 663). The legislative intent to cover "other international airports" is very apparent from the very language employed in Section 1 aforequoted of P.D. No. 1957. The express mention in said provision of "terminal fee currently imposed under MIAA Administrative Order No. 1, Series of 1984 . . ." is, as you state, explained by the fact that MIAA was "the only international airport at the time of the implementation of said P.D." and will not be deemed to restrict the application of P.D. No. 1957 to the MIAA in the light of the clear and unequivocal phrase "other international airports" in the opening clause of said provision. Wherefore, your query is answered accordingly. Very truly yours, (SGD.) TEOFISTO T. GUINGONA, JR. Secretary