DOT hopeful incoming tourism chief will sustain pandemic recovery momentum
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Tourism on Monday welcomed the incoming appointment of Liloan Mayor Christina Garcia Frasco as its new secretary.
Frasco, also the current spokesperson of vice president-elect Sara Duterte-Carpio, is the daughter of Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and wife of Rep. Duke Frasco (Cebu, 5th District).
The DOT said it is hopeful that the new administration will sustain the momentum gained by the tourism industry.
“The Department of Tourism (DOT) welcomes the impending appointment of Mayor Christina G. Frasco as its new Secretary with high hopes that the momentum that we have generated [over] the past few months toward the revival, recovery, and resiliency of the tourism industry will be carried over to the new administration,” the tourism agency said in a statement.
It added that the transition team of DOT is ready to welcome Frasco, and brief her and her team on the tourism agency matters for the “smooth turnover.”
The DOT transition team will be turning over the National Tourism Development Plan 2022 to 2028 and reformulated Tourism Response and Recovery Plan (TRRP), which served as the department’s road map to the tourism sector’s full recovery from the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bringing DOT 'back on its feet'
During the World Travel and Tourism Council hosted by the Philippines last month, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said she is confident that the next administration will be guided by the current agency’s handbook for the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As you know, not only in the Philippines but all over the world, there was no handbook for COVID. We had to compare notes. We had to prepare everything from scratch and I believe that, of course, the next administration [just] like what we did we already have the handbook for COVI. But as you know, we have to continually adapt to the times,” the tourism chief said during the WTTC press conference last April 20.
“In tourism you have to learn how to adapt to the changing needs,” she added.
“I think the next administration, at least they already have the handbook for COVID. From this summit, they can already see what works best for other countries and maybe adapt it to the Philippine setting. And from that, you can just move forward and always just listen to the private sector, work with the different agencies,” Puyat continued.
The DOT guaranteed the next administration that it has been “operating in utmost accountability and transparency” given its recent credentials.
“The next administration is assured that the DOT has been operating in utmost accountability and transparency, receiving an ‘unqualified opinion’ from the Commission on Audit, the highest rating that indicates that all of our financial statements are reported fairly and correctly, for two straight years,” the DOT said, adding that it last received the same rating in 2009.
Aside from the highest COA rating, the DOT also maintained its ISO 9001:2015 certification for four years in a row.
Based on the International Organization for Standardization, a nongovernmental organization that certifies that a management system, manufacturing process, service, or documentation procedure, an agency “needs to demonstrate its ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements” before it is granted ISO 9001:2015.
According to DOT, it has successfully expanded its Quality Management System (QMS) coverage to three additional regional offices, DOT-Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Regions 4A (CALABARZON), and Region 10 (Northern Mindanao).
With these, Puyat said she is confident that she will leave the DOT with the agency back on its feet.
“I will bow out of the department secure in the knowledge that the industry is back on its feet: borders have reopened and the livelihood of those dependent on tourism have gradually been restored,” Puyat said.
“The new tourism chief can bank on the remarkable gains of the Duterte Administration that has piloted sustainable and regenerative tourism practices, not only on Boracay Island, but also in many tourist destinations across the country. This being said, the department is ready to make the next big strides to even greater heights under the leadership of the new secretary,” she concluded.
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