Cebu’s Tourist Arrivals from Jan. - June 2009 Higher than Same Period Last Year
July 19, 2009A total of 2.4 million tourists arrived in Cebu for the period January to June 2009. This is 23% higher than the 1.9 million that arrived for the same period last year. The figures were announced during a board meeting last 15 July of the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) attended by Gov. Gwen Garcia.
Gov. Garcia said, “In spite of the economic recession, we continue to see a very marked improvement in our tourism arrivals and income.” This she attributed to “projection of a positive image of Cebu, our lucky location in the archipelago (being in the center), and, of course, the vital element which is the peace and order.”
“Cebu in itself is already an attraction. The culture that we have, the heritage and the beaches are an attraction. In my trips abroad, i observed that Cebu is on everybody’s lips,” the Governor added.
New Rent Control Law Signed by PGMA
July 16, 2009Republic Act 9653 or the Rent Control Act of 2009 was signed by President Arroyo last 14 July 2009. The new law imposes a one-year moratorium on housing rental increases upon its effectivity. From the second to the fourth year, the law caps the house rental increase to only seven percent per year. This is 3 percentage point less than the 10 percent allowed in the previous law, RA 9341, which lapsed on Dec. 31, 2008.
The new law covers all residential units in Metro Manila and other highly urbanized cities where monthly rents do not exceed P10,000. The cut-off is P5,000 for residential units in other areas. The law also prohibits lessors, or owners of residential units, from demanding advance rent of more than one month as well as deposits of over two months. It imposes higher penalties for violations, from P25,000 to not more than P50,000 from earlier fines of only P5,000 to not more than P15,000 in the previous law.
In a statement, Vice President Noli De Castro said, “This brings much-needed relief to housing tenants during this time of crisis. The bottomline is to keep families’ monthly expenses for housing low, so that they still have money for other needs.”
Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, principal author of the measure in the Senate. said, “Until every Filipino family can afford to buy or build their own homes and until we can assure that our busiest districts are readily accessible by convenient and faster means of transportation even to those who do not live close by or in the rural areas or outside the urban centers, it is imperative that we support those who opted to rent houses for convenience and forced by circumstances, and to stretch the amount of their pay checks.”
This new rent control law would be in effect for four years, or until December 31, 2013, after which the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) would be given the power to regulate the rental of residential units, conduct a review of its implementation, and formulate a transition program to cushion the impact in the event of a regulation-free rental housing market.
