Boost local tourism, Marcos urges Pinoys

By Kristina Maralit October 24, 2022 

PRESIDENT Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. encouraged Filipinos to start visiting the country's tourist sites to help speed up the recovery of the local tourism sector.

In his weekly vlog posted on his official Facebook page Sunday, the President said tourism is one of the country's major job generating and revenue earning industries.

"I will not stop encouraging you all to visit our beautiful tourist spots," he said in Filipino.

"Let's start this Undas (All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day). One reason why I declared October 31 a special non-working holiday is so that we will have more time to spend with our families and plan our vacation," he said.

Tourism can revitalize the economy because improving existing tourist spots and developing new ones will open more businesses, which in turn will provide more local employment opportunities, he said.

Marcos said he has tasked concerned government agencies to step up efforts to improve accessibility to areas with a high potential for tourism.

"The more that they are accessible, the more people will be enticed to visit and pour in money to the provinces," the President said.

Last week at the Philippine Tourism Industry Convergence Reception, Marcos pledged all-out support for efforts to boost the tourism sector.

Citing the report of Tourism Secretary Cristina Garcia Frasco that the Philippines has attracted around 1.6 million foreign travelers since the country eased the screening of arriving passengers last February, he directed various government agencies to work closely with the Tourism department in building new infrastructure, rehabilitating and improving existing tourist destinations and discovering new ones, upgrading sea and airports as well as public transportation, and securing tourists.

DoT redefines key strategies

Ease of travel and better facilities, the President pointed out, will lure more local and foreign tourists alike to see the sights which will generate not just jobs and income for Filipinos but also "reintroduce" the Philippines to the rest of the world.

Marcos reiterated that "now is the best opportunity" for the country to be a tourism hub with its vast, rich natural resources and best asset — the Filipino workforce.

"We in the Philippines have been so fortunate to have been born to this very beautiful country. And even more so, we have been so lucky to be born to such beautiful people. This is something that we can show the world, and immediately, this will come to help on the preoccupation. At the very beginning, we always talk about jobs, we always talk about employment," he said.

"We must immediately do all that we can to make sure that these assets that the Philippines has must be used to bring jobs to people, good jobs to people, to bring visitors to our country," he added.

Marcos pledges to reboot tourism

To further streamline the processing of returning overseas Filipinos and foreign travelers, the government has replaced the One Health Pass (OHP) with the much simpler eArrival card.

Before the eArrival Card, travelers had to register for the OHP a few days before their arrival and accomplish the electronic Health Declaration Checklist (eHDC) on their day of departure.

Unnecessary information fields such as the traveler's occupation and educational attainment have been removed to speed up the registration process.

PTAA: Collaboration key to recovery

Tourism-related fields were likewise significantly cut by half — from 20 items under the OHP to now less than 10 items in the eArrival card.

Upon providing their travel details, personal information, health declaration and vaccination details on the eArrival Card website: www.onehealthpass.com.ph, travelers will be issued with a unique QR code which they will present to Bureau of Quarantine officers at their destination airport in the Philippines.

Rebooting a country’s brand: Marga Montemayor-Nograles and TPB

by Philip Cu Unjieng

Nurturing and enhancing a brand is nothing new to Marga Montemayor-Nograles. It’s not only written in her blood, but it is part of her DNA. Growing up, she would watch her mother promote their Davao hotel and restaurant, and do work with a number of the indigenous tribes of Mindanao.

Marga also put up her own fashion brand, Kaayo, in 2017. A brand that has strong elements of sustainability even before the word became a buzzword here. It champions artisan communities of handloom weavers and revive what was then an endangered textile sub-industry. The success of Kaayo over five fruitful years is testimony to Marga’s determination, resourcefulness, and her business and marketing acumen.

As the new Chief Operating Officer (COO) of our Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), Marga will have a new brand to shepherd to success. This time, it’s not an apparel line or artisanal craft, but our country, the Philippines. In particular, Philippine tourism. And it’s a challenge she welcomes! 

I’ve known Marga for decades now, so there’s no beating around the bush or sugar-coating between us. I point out the fact that pre-pandemic, while we would always talk encouragingly of year-on-year rising foreign visitor figures, the sad truth is that we would come in a weak sixth among eight ASEAN nations. Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore rank above us, and it’s only Cambodia and Myanmar we would have an edge on.

While we’re already up by 86 percent from 2021 figures and exceeded the conservative 2022 targets with three good months still to come, let’s also accept that 2021 was a pandemic year. So my question is what are we planning to do differently that can see us gaining on those countries above us? Vietnam only opened their country to foreign visitors in 1997, yet rapidly shifted from an agrarian economy to a service economy.

Marga replies, “I agree, let’s always be realistic. We can be confident and optimistic but let’s not hide from the truth. Before we can talk about comparatives, it’s clear we have to work from within and fix what we can identify are real issues with Tourism here. Infrastructure, for one, is still very much a problem, as our airports make up the first impression visitors will have of our country.”

“We’re now coming out of the shadow of the pandemic situation that hounded us for more than two long years. We’re recovering, can enjoy face to face activities, and the 2022 figures are already a big feat that we should rally behind, and be hopeful about. With belief in ourselves and a positive outlook, we must move fast to make up the lost ground.” 

A strong calendar of promoting tourism here is slated to keep Marga busy over the next months. There’s the ongoing Phitex, then London and Berlin fairs. There’s also a Dive Fair in Florida, and Marga is bullish about MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) to jumpstart visitor arrivals. These are the conventions and multi-dimensional tourism-related events such as those centered on medical tourism, global-travel influencers, and regional trade fairs. As can be gleaned, it’s about creating a multitude of cost-efficient and diverse touch points with the global community of travelers, and ensuring the Philippines will be top of mind.

In my opinion, it’s a great strategy—as there are so many types and niches of tourists and visitors. Whats essential is that we’re perceived as accessible, convenient, and value for money spent. Marga also talks of sustainable tourism—of how in the Philippine scenario, one aspect of this is strategic partnerships. By making the Philippines an attractive proposition to global hotel and resort chains, we’re saying, “It’s a beautiful country and opportunity, help us take care of it. Come visit and help make it better.”

This all ties in with what our president has been saying, that tourism should be one of the big drivers of economic recovery. There was a time when tourism represented up to 12 percent of our GDP, and there’s no reason we can’t attain, and even exceed that, in the near future.

For Marga, one way to reach that goal is to unearth hidden gems, promote new destination for travelers. From what I understood, this means that the likes of Boracay, Cebu/Mactan, Bohol, and even a revived Siargao, can be seen as givens in attracting visitors. It’s now important that we properly develop and promote other areas.

Siquijor as a wellness destination and retreat, is a high priority. Then there’s Dumaguete with it’s diving and snorkelling, and five-star accomodations. The Davao to Bukidnon highway has such stellar activities as strawberry-picking, an ATV (All-Terain Vehicle) trail, and quaint restaurants. Vigan to Laoag is the Northern Luzon “gem,” and there are Calabarzon offerings that take you from Tagaytay, Cavite, and to Laguna. It’s about packaging and marketing these destination so that a variety of options are now made compelling reasons to return to the country time and again.

The Philippine brand is a strong value proposition that needs to be nurtured. It should be experiential—the weave you wear, the food you taste and crave for, the memories that are created. The brand is uniquely ours, and each and every Filipino should be a living Ambassador to this collective aura. We are rich in culture and traditions, and we should be proud of them and celebrate them. It’s now a matter of story telling, and making the world aware of these riches. 

With her wealth of experience, her history of doing her best and the utmost, and the genuine love for our traditions, culture, and people that she shares with husband Karlo, Marga is the ideal person to lead the TPB at this particular juncture. Her success is our success, and I know she’ll literally unearth each rock and pebble to make that success happen.

Marcos: Covid-19 is fading away; ‘it’s time to get back to work’

by Argyll Cyrus Geducos, MB 

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said that while the past few years have been difficult for everyone, it is time for the people to return to their normal lives as the Covid-19 pandemic is now “fading away.”

President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. (RTVM Screenshot)

Marcos said this in a welcome luncheon at the MassKara Festival in Bacolod City on Sunday, October 23. 

In his speech, the President recognized that the celebration was important as it signals that the situation was slowly returning to normal and in time for the Christmas season.

“It is a good thing to remind people that the pandemic may have been difficult, the pandemic really put us through the wringer, but we are back,” he said.

According to the President, the pandemic is now “fading away,” and Filipinos are now learning to live with it.

“The pandemic is fading away. We are learning to manage it, and now it is time for us to all go back to work, to all go back to our normal lives, to remind ourselves of all the opportunities that were before us before the pandemic,” Marcos said. 

“Now, after that, we have normalized the situation a little bit, then it is time for us to go back to all of those endeavors that we were undertaking before the Covid hit,” he added.

President Marcos said the celebration of the MassKara Festival allows Filipinos to show the rest of the world what they can do.

“It is time for us to go back and exercise once again, show once again the Filipino resilience, the Filipino resourcefulness, the Filipino industry, the Filipino talent,” he said.

“Ito ngayon ang MassKara Festival ay isang pagdiriwang hindi lamang sa pagbubukas ng Bacolod kung hindi sa buong Pilipinas (The MassKara Festival is a celebration of not just the opening of the Bacolod, but of the entire Philippines),” he added.

The MassKara Festival began in 1980 following a series of sugar crises suffered by Bacolodnons and Negrenses. Specifically, the crisis was caused by the oversupply of sugar in the international market, which caused world sugar prices to drop.

The colorful smiling masks in the festival symbolize their resiliency and unity despite challenges and problems

The limits of our human laws

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

IN the gospel, many are the instances where Christ had to correct the leading Jews at that time for their too strict and too literal interpretation of their laws. (cfr. Lk 13,10-17) These Jews acted as if they had the exclusive possession of what is right, moral and legal just by citing their laws. Obviously, they themselves could not follow those laws to the letter. And Christ pointed that out to them.

We obviously need to craft laws to guide our life in common. But we need to understand that since these laws are human laws, they cannot capture everything involved in man’s life that can also involve spiritual, let alone, supernatural realities. Even in the level of our ordinary human affairs, complicated situations can take place that can go beyond the purview of our legal system. Depicting justice as a blindfolded woman with a weighing scale tells us a lot about this predicament.

We should be wary of our tendency to fall into legalism, formalism and political correctness. Thus, Christ bewailed this common danger among the leading Jews by saying, “Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others. Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces. Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.” (Lk 11,42-44)

We should always be on guard against all these forms of inconsistency, always rectifying our intentions and also regularly editing our life, much like what writers do with their work before they are submitted for publication. That way, we can monitor how things are going and can have the chance to make appropriate corrections, improvements, revisions, etc. 

Our human laws are meant to lead us to our ultimate goal which is none other than to be with God, to be holy as God is holy, etc. Irrespective of their immediate temporal purpose, our laws should lead us little by little to become God’s image and likeness as we are meant to be. They in the end should serve the fundamental religious purpose of our life. That should always be the constant purpose of our laws. 

All the other objectives of our laws, let alone their technical requirements, serve only as an occasion, a reason or motive for this ultimate purpose. Setting aside this ultimate purpose would empty our laws of their real legitimacy, making them rife for all kinds of manipulations and maneuverings by some shrewd men who may enjoy some power at a given moment.

We have to realize that it is Christ who ultimately gives the real meaning and purpose of our laws. We have to disabuse ourselves from the thought that our laws can be based only on our common sense, or on our own estimation of what is good and evil according to the values of practicality, convenience, etc., or on our traditions and culture, etc.

While these things have their legitimate role to play in our legal and judicial systems, we have to understand that they cannot be the primary and ultimate bases. It should be God, his laws and ways that should animate the way we make laws as well as the way we apply and live them. After all, being the Creator of all things, he is the one who establishes what is truly good and evil.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com