Boardwalks/Ambulances/Tourists

Does a new boss at the DOT mean a new approach for tourism?

As someone who has built a couple of resorts and travels extensively all over the Philippines, the first thing I realized is that “Devolution” of Tourism from the national government to local government comes with a curse and creates a mess. The best examples would be Boracay, parts of Puerto Galera, Mindoro and Baguio City. All those places have been cursed with over commercialization and the resulting negative environmental disaster. Another curse of devolution comes in the form of under development or ignorant development where devolution did not fast track development but instead took an evolutionary process that’s taking decades because it is not a priority of the governor or mayor, or the LGU is the typical 3rd or 4th class municipality with not enough income and nobody trained or knowledgeable on tourism development plans and progress.

In this regard, Congress needs to revisit the Local Government Code and review the negative impact of “devolution” to Tourism, Agriculture, Education and Health.

After visiting Siquijor this week, I am certain that this island will undergo the slow evolutionary process of tourism development but I am not certain if it will come out beautiful or affordable. As I asked around, the biggest concern of locals on this beautiful island is the absence of what they call a real hospital with “enough” equipment to address surgical emergencies. According to some there’s not even enough doctors to meet local needs. In the event of an emergency, whether you are a local or a tourist pray to God that you can get on the fast ferry boat to Dumaguete which is a 50 minute trip across sea.

Perhaps this is something that Secretary Berna Romulo could discuss with DOH Secretary Duque so that emerging or selected tourist destinations could be provided the necessary personnel and infrastructure. If that’s too much to ask for, the DOT could work with the Red Cross and the AFP to build up teams of first responders and ambulances to address medical emergencies.

Getting to destinations like Siquijor which has very high tourism potential is hampered by the fact that you need to fly to Dumaguete then ride the ferry to Siquijor and there are only four small ferries servicing the route. The lines get quite long and the only reason we did not have to go through the long wait and long queue was because we had people on the ground buying tickets days in advance. The problem with transport in the Philippines is that the government knows all the ways to tax investors and operators but never thinks of incentivizing shipping lines, ferry operators and the likes. So what happens is the operators take forever to recoup their investment and takes forever to have enough money for improvement or expansion. Transport is one area that the government should not profit from but should invest in like many other countries in the world. If the government can’t operate ferries and airlines, let the private sector do it but don’t tax them to death, give them tax breaks!

If the airport in Siquijor was expanded or a bigger one was built on the island, it would double the attraction for guests who want to save on travel time and inconvenience. Secretary Romulo should also look into airports such as Daet and one near Solano in the north that have been diminished or closed down by previous administrations because the CAAP did not have visionary leaders who understood the value and importance of airports for tourist destinations such as Calaguas island.

There are so many thing that can be done for tourism whether it’s Baler, Siargao, or Siquijor. The thing to do is to share best practices and concepts such as building boardwalks or food strips and markets. But all this has to be under the DOT and not devolved to politicians who are clueless or helpless. Yes to innovation not “evolution.”

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The DOTr and the government’s inability to deal with Air Traffic Congestion in the country is no longer tolerable or acceptable. If the people in Metro Manila are wasting and losing P2 billion daily because of traffic congestion, I hope and pray that the same experts behind the study would compute how many billions more we lose as a result of Air Traffic Congestion.

In the last 30 days I have flown locally at least once or twice a week and on the average I have had to sit in an airport or in a plane on the tarmac waiting and wasting one hour every time because of Air Traffic Congestion. Imagine how much airlines such as PAL or Cebu Pacific loses in aviation gas and number of flights with every plane delayed on the ground! Personally, I know the trickle effect of delayed flights because flyers who go to the airport on time usually give it an hour or two, that becomes 3 or 4 due to Air Traffic Congestion.

On the other side people meeting us at the airport often spend the equal amount of time commuting and waiting at the airport. The delay then disrupts schedules for ferry boats, bus rides or shuttles. All that adds up especially when you have to hire a van and the driver has to go over time because your entire schedule has been pushed back! I know that Secretary Art Tugade earnestly wants to solve the problem. But in order to do so, he has to treat the problem like a national security concern, like a serious threat and deal with it like a full on crisis! This week, a couple of commuters, pilots and media people were already exchanging notes about the airport situation and have expressed their disapproval of the current situation. It would be wise for Secretary Tugade to convene a crisis committee and treat the Air Traffic Congestion before he finds himself under fire once again.

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