Tourism sector is horribly disunited

When Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima dropped by The Philippine Star offices last week, he told us the Aquino administration is banking on tourism to produce early positive results in terms of jobs and forex earnings. I have news for Secretary Purisima and P-Noy… that is not going to happen. Our tourism sector will continue to pitifully underachieve compared to our neighbors because those in the industry are busy fighting each other.

The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), one of the more respectable business organizations invited me to attend a press conference last week supposedly to announce a new program to make the private sector the engine of growth for the tourism sector. I thought the MAP would lead a private sector effort to promote tourism regardless of what government does or does not do. Tourism promotion in other countries after all, is a private sector undertaking. It was nothing like that at all. I was not only disappointed. I was totally dismayed.

The press conference, contrary to its claimed purpose, only served to provide some legitimacy to one of the quarreling factions. Worse, how can Tourism Secretary Bertie Lim lose the support of his old friends and allies at the MAP? With their overlapping membership, MAP and the Makati Business Club, where Bertie was spokesman before he became Tourism Secretary, are like peas in a pod. If Bertie can’t get his friends behind him, how can we expect him to get a disunited tourism sector working for the same goal?

I do not see the point of the MAP involvement. I don’t know if there is something personal between Bertie and MAP president Jun Palafox. Bertie apparently lost MAP’s support because he ignored their offer to help. Palafox told the press conference that MAP offered their support to various cabinet members and everyone responded favorably, except Bertie. In fact, Palafox complained, they did not even get the courtesy of a reply.

The way I see it, the roots of the problem can be traced to former Tourism Secretary Ace Durano. It is no secret he was not in favor of the passage of the Tourism Act when it was being deliberated by Congress. But then Sen. Dick Gordon managed to get the measure passed and signed into law. What Durano did in the twilight of his watch was to sabotage its implementation with a questionable implementing rules and a series of midnight appointments.

Durano also convened a Tourism Congress composed of his friends. He did not consult the entire tourism sector constituency as called for under the Tourism Act. Most, but not all, of those invited by Durano to constitute the Tourism Congress were only at best at the periphery of the tourism sector. They also represented associations and not enterprises as the Tourism Act requires. Of course those who are actually running tourism businesses, the people the law had in mind when it talks of the “private sector” were up in arms. These are the same people who worked hard to get the Tourism Act passed. They did not appreciate that people who are not as involved in the tourism industry as they are have usurped their voice in the Tourism Congress.

The Tourism Congress is a powerful body with the power to nominate members in corporations under the Department of Tourism like the Duty Free Shop, the convention and visitors bureau and what used to be the Tourism Authority that takes in our travel taxes. The Tourism Congress also enjoys a sizeable budget. I am told that they have yet to liquidate money already obtained even as they tried to get more released to them just before the change of administration.

If the current Tourism Congress members had the support of Durano, the anti Durano group has the support of Bertie. So when Bertie took over, he largely ignored the Tourism Congress outside of ceremonial appearances. The quick resolution of the court case in a regional trial court could have helped but the office of the solicitor general was for quite a while confused who its client was. They were representing the Secretary of Tourism which initially was Durano and somehow, they couldn’t make a quick switch to Bertie. The office of the solicitor general was, I am told, filing motions to delay the hearings and filing briefs as if Durano was still the Tourism Secretary. Bertie, the weakling that he is, was unable to use the influence of his office as a cabinet member to straighten the solicitor general quickly enough.

And so the fight continues. During the MAP press conference, I asked the Durano group if they were patriotic enough to put their egos aside and just surrender to the authority of Bertie because Bertie after all is the man chosen by P-Noy to run the tourism department. I got a long answer about the rule of law and how Bertie was violating it by ignoring them. So I told them that this is precisely our problem as a nation… we all think we are lawyers ready to argue our point to death even if it means sacrificing what is a clear and obvious national good.

In sum, they cannot work with Bertie and Bertie cannot and will not work with them. Maybe they can all just wait each other out until November when the term of Durano’s group expires. But it is also entirely possible that we will end up with two Tourism Congresses and another long court case to resolve who the legitimate one is. I understand that after the House oversight committee castigated Bertie for doing nothing, he has gathered enough guts to use his powers under the law and has called for new Tourism Congress to be convened by September.

I don’t know if Jun Palafox realizes what mess he got MAP into. Perhaps, the MAP membership should take him to account for calling that press conference and saying what he said. Even if he stopped short of calling for Bertie’s resignation or ouster, he did say Bertie was the “weak link” in the tourism sector and for me that is the same as calling for his ouster. I am not saying how Jun feels about Bertie is wrong. In fact, I think Jun is quite perceptive and I have started to think Bertie is really not the right person for the job and should be replaced.

For me, Bertie’s biggest crime is wasting a whole year. I realize Durano left him a minefield but still, if he had enough leadership something would be moving by now. What has he to show for one precious year: a failed brand exercise and the useless junket to the US supposedly to drum up balikbayan numbers. Filipino-Americans will come even without our prodding if the fares are affordable in the context of the economic crisis they are feeling now. I also heard Bertie’s US road show was largely a flop… not a good deployment of funds, to use the language of Finance Secretary Purisima.

Where do we go from here? The tourism industry has to unite, no ifs, no buts. Whether they are friends of Durano or friends of Bertie, they are all Filipinos and the interest of Filipinos is to dramatically increase our tourism numbers. There are problems aplenty that stand in the way of this dream. We have the horrible NAIA terminals and the congestion of the single runway. There are policies that must be changed like those involving visas for Chinese and Indian tourists, the two largest tourist markets in our region today. There are hotel rooms to be built, resorts to be developed and standards to be set and enforced. All these can only be done if everyone is working in the same direction.

As for Bertie, it is time for him to be honest with P-Noy who appointed him and to the Filipino people depending on him. Can he unite the tourism sector behind his leadership? Does he have the personality to cajole and to threaten to get results? If he is less than sure he can deliver, he owes it to everyone to say so and allow P-Noy to appoint another one in his place who can get the job done. We are losing precious time. It is as simple as that.

Gym machine

Robin Tong contributed this one.

 An older man, not in the best physical condition, asked the trainer in the gym, “I want to impress that beautiful girl over there. Which machine would you suggest I use?”

The trainer replied: “Use the ATM machine out in front of the gym!”

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. He is also on Twitter @boochanco