PH: Home to the world | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online

PH: Home to the world | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online

PH: Home to the world
Fiesta Islands
By PAUL EDWARD P. SISON
July 31, 2011, 8:00am

MANILA, Philippines — A wise old man from Liwasang Kalayaan in Marikina Heights, who we shall call Mr. T for purposes of anonymity, always says, “Sa Pilipinas lang genuine ang ngiti natin sa mga bisita. Sa ibang bansa, fake lahat yan.”

What he really means is -- it is very natural for Filipinos to be hospitable to tourists compared to our Asian neighbors who have to put up a front. He attributes this to something which we have considered all our lives as a negative trait and weakness as a people – the fiesta mentality.

The fiesta mentality is all about putting our best foot forward. It’s about wanting to please our guests. It’s about giving up the best room in the house for our visitors to sleep in. How many of us have slept on the floor so our guest could have a comfortable sleep on our own bed?

Filipinos throw the best parties. Have you noticed that? Fiesta is about a whole community coming together as one to host a party where every home is open to everyone – even those you don’t know.

Mr. T believes that if we succeed in harnessing this newfound strength into a culture of tourism and make the whole world know about it – we can surpass all our neighbors in terms of visitor arrivals.

Why talk about destinations when we can talk about our people? Let’s face it, our impressions of places we visit linger in our consciousness for a while – but our impressions of people we meet in those places last us a lifetime.
Besides, our top destinations are superior to what the rest of the world has to offer. Even foreigners attest to this fact.

Have you ever wondered why is it that expatriates who initially resent being assigned to the Philippines and consider it initially as a hardship post eventually find it so hard to leave when their tour of duty is up? Why are nurses and caregivers from the Philippines very much in demand in different parts of the world?

It is because we are a nation of 90 million smiling, caring, and affectionate people. Taking good care of the needs of guests is second nature to us. Somehow, the racial mix brought about by centuries of being a colony of different foreign powers is now working in our favor.

The challenge now is how to harness this competitive edge and galvanize all tourism-related sectors behind this collective positioning.

Let us hope for the best and pray that Tourism Secretary Alberto Aldaba Lim will be able to triumph over adversity, caused by industry outsiders, to lead us into the 6.6 million foreign visitors mark he is targeting for 2016.

The poor secretary, the decent and hardworking person that he is, is at the receiving end of a harsh and brutal demolition job coming from outsiders posing as know-it-all tourism experts.

You know something is fishy when people assailing the DoT Secretary are not the ones from the primary tourism enterprises like travel agencies, tour operators, hotels, resorts, tourist transports, etc. – but, people from real estate and hospital services.

The real score is that one of the most aggressive turns out to be a losing bidder for the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP). But he does not mention this. He allegedly tried to pull a fast one with his association’s board of directors but was rebuffed. So, looking around for an entity from where to launch his “advocacy,” he finally found an NGO that would legitimize his vendetta. He even wrote P-Noy with concocted tales to discredit the tourism chief.
We were informed that past officers of the association are poised to censure this wily fox for using the name of the prestigious association to further his personal agenda.

The two others, on the other hand, belong to a body that was described as “not in accordance with the intent and wordings of the law” by solons who authored the Tourism Act of 2009 and are asking that the body be revamped to conform with the law.

The NTDP is Lim’s contribution to President Benigno S. Aquino’s poverty alleviation agenda. It is the roadmap which translates the DoT chief’s vision into actionable programs and projects. It rationalizes the different priorities into a strategic framework and outlines action plans to guide the DoT and other stakeholders in the development of the tourism sector between 2011 and 2016.

The strategic vision is to become the “must experience” destination in Asia. For the sake of our country, let us pray that Sec. Lim and the DoT succeed.


For comments, please email paulsison@ideasman.ph

Panglao int’l airport soon a reality, says Lim

Panglao int’l airport soon a reality, says Lim

Long weekends benefit tourism, says DOT Sec. Lim

SIARGAO, April 29. Tourism secretary Alberto Lim welcomed the announcement of Malacanang declaring June 20 as a special non-working holiday.

Lim revealed that they are studying the possibility of reviving the holiday economics of the previous administration where holidays were adjusted to create long weekends that encouraged domestic tourism and resulted in higher visitor arrivals and more tourism revenues for favorite local destinations.

“We just have to avoid the abuses of the past,” said the DOT chief.

He explained that creating new holidays is counter-productive. But, there is no loss in productivity by moving holidays in the middle of the week to a Friday or Monday and it is good for tourism, “You are actually enticing consumers to take trips and spend their money elsewhere.”

Lim added that a two-day weekend is too short for people who have to travel out of town and having long weekends is good for communities with local attractions.

“We will forward our recommendation to the president once it has been thought out thoroughly and finalized,” said the secretary.

As per Official Gazette post, President Benigno S. Aquino III signed Proclamation No. 154 entitled DECLARING MONDAY, JUNE 20, 2011, AS SPECIAL (NON-WORKING) DAY THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.

According to the Proclamation No. 154, June 19, 2011 marks the 150th birth anniversary of Dr. Jose Rizal, thePhilippines national hero.

The proclamation further declared that to give all Filipinos the opportunity to commemorate Rizal’s patriotic deeds and sacrifices for the country, rekindle their admiration and respect for him, and to celebrate this milestone with appropriate ceremonies, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) requested that Monday, June 20, 2011, be declared as special non-working holiday instead of June 19, 2011, which falls on a Sunday.