QUEZON City Rep. Alfred Vargas on Monday asked Congress to urge the Department of Tourism (DoT) to consider increasing the number of tourists to be covered by its free reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests program in anticipation of the holiday season.

Vargas commended the DoT for its “excellence and innovations” intended to revitalize the tourism sector which has been badly hit by the pandemic.

“Increasing the services for domestic tourists to be able to safely travel will not only cater to more Filipinos in need of assistance but will also provide a much-needed boost to the country’s tourism industry,” Vargas said in House Resolution (HR) No. 2326.

The Quezon City lawmaker cited the role of the tourism sector in revitalizing the economy.

Tourism “provides hope to millions of Filipinos, especially to our tourism workers, local stakeholders, and their families who have been heavily affected by the economic and public health crisis,” he said.

Earlier, the DoT, through the Tourism Promotions Board (TBP), announced it was providing free RT-PCR tests at the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) beginning November 1.

The program is part of the DoT’s efforts to promote the country as a safe tourism destination and help speed up the tourism industry’s recovery.

Vargas said the program could benefit 12,000 more qualified tourists until the end of 2021, with its daily cap of 350 approved applicants.

Vargas said the free RT-PCR test program will help ensure the safety of tourists, tourism workers, and local stakeholders in various tourist destinations.

It also shows that the DoT is “rising to the challenge and being proactive,” he added.

Vargas said the DoT has been consistently responding to the needs of the sector to help it weather the effects of the pandemic.

He cited such DoT initiatives like the moratorium on the collection of accreditation fees from new and renewing applicants from Tourism and Tourism-Related Enterprises, the waving of participation fees in international fairs and exhibitions until the end of 2021, and seeking cash assistance for displaced workers from various tourism-related enterprises.

At the height of the pandemic, the DoT also extended flight assistance to 19,898 foreign tourists and 1,456 domestic tourists, provided a total of 13,116 transient rooms in Metro Manila for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), and 25,687 rooms for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) agents, bank workers, and health frontliners, he added.