The fault in star-rating system
It should now be quiet on the Comelec front, with Commissioner Arthur Lim announcing that “all is well” among the members of the commission. A “face-off” scheduled Monday between Chairman Andres Bautista and Commissioner Rowena Guanzon did not produce a disquieting brandishing of emotions and swords.
To make a long story short, a heated exchange of words had taken place between the two officials after Commissioner Guanzon submitted a comment to the Supreme Court regarding the poll body’s decision on the Grace Poe disqualification case on Jan. 7, five days ahead of the scheduled July 12 deadline, and supposedly without the signature of Guanzon’s peers.
In a press briefing the other day, Commissioner Lim said, “All’s well that ends well. Your commission is firmly in good hands. We are united and focused to do the mandate that the Constitution has given us.” The commissioners decided to adopt the comment Guanzon filed before the Supreme Court. Her comment would be ratified and confirmed in a resolution.
Lim was quoted in The Philippine STAR as saying that the reported misunderstanding between Bautista and Guanzon was “expected” in any collegial body. “The important thing is that we are able to address the issues and we have ourselves now decided to move forward and to leave all this controversy behind us.”
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Commissioner Guanzon has been criticized by some observers for her “harsh” language, and “disrespect” of the Comelec chair. Others are grateful that she has the courage to do what she believes is right. To be sure, the drama she authored has added hot spice to the Poe disqualification case. The final judgment on the case rests with the Supreme Court, she said.
May Judgment Day come soon: the public waits with bated breath on the high tribunal’s decision on the fate of presidential aspirant Poe.
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Of the comments sent me, this one, by lawyer Cesar P. Manalaysay, is interesting. I quote: “Thank you for writing about the accomplishments and family background of Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon.
That of Chairman Andres Bautista is equally impressive. Sadly, this is the pitfall of the Philippines. Brilliant minds lock horns instead of working together. They are like powerful jet engines that are propelled to opposite directions. As a result, the aircraft is incapable of flight or movement.”
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There is yet another development that rankles among tourism advocates and hoteliers. Listening to people talk about the issue, I am reminded of the Shakespearean quote: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.”
The Network of Independent Travel & Allied Services Philippines, Inc. (NITAS) and hoteliers and resort owners are up in arms over the Department of Tourism-sponsored star-rating system for hotels and resorts.
It claims that the system adopted by the Department of Tourism in grading hotels and resorts is claimed to be a result of the “subjective metrics or standards and haphazard measurements” drawn up by the department and its foreign consultants.
The House of Representatives Committee on Tourism, after listening to the complaints and answers offered by Tourism Undersecretary Maria Victoria Jasmin, who is in charge of the project, asked the DOT to hold in abeyance the implementation of the hotel and resort star rating project pending its submission of a revised accreditation stands to the committee. A satisfactory answer to how the P320-million grant from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is being disbursed for the project has yet to be made.
It also asked Joseph and Emmanuel Gonzalez of Plantation Bay Resort and Spa and other concerned groups to come up with a more objective, fair and doable rating system.
The star-rating program, according to Rep. Rene Relampagos, committee on tourism chair, is “flawed and needs revisions.” Rep. Gwen Garcia of Cebu has also pointed out questionable provisions in the system.
The system, drawn up by DOT personnel and their appointed auditors without consulting hoteliers and resort owners, sows confusion, said Garcia. Comments and measurements of facilities have been made by auditors who stay in the hotels for only four days. The auditors, plucked from hotel sales and marketing staff, were trained for only two days and one overnight stay at hotels prior to their deployment to the various hotels and resorts nationwide. According to NITAS head Robert Lim Joseph, the rating auditors lack quality experience and the required range of skills and expertise to grade all aspects of hotel operations.
Garcia said, “How do you distinguish very good bedsheets from excellent bedsheets, which is one of the questions in the (auditors’) checklist?” She laughed when she read the accreditation standards. Imagine how auditors would grade kitchen equipment, hotel rooms, lampshades, floor rugs, bathroom fixtures, china and silverware used, efficiency of elevators, and some such utilities?
Joseph said NITAS is opposing the government-sponsored rating system on the following grounds: 1)it is unnecessary and not the norm around the world, 2) it is unfair to small hotels, 3)the standards (metrics) being used are subjective, 4) it gives the DOT tremendous power over a private industry, and 5) it is prone to abuse by auditors and vulnerable to corruption.
Joseph said there were no extensive, open and honest-to-goodness consultations with hotel and resort industry executives and professionals when DOT announced the project in 2012.
According to Joseph, a government-sponsored hotel/resort classification system is unnecessary “since it is the customers that make the choice, depending on their preferences and needs. Government does not need to grade or classify hotels. The hotel industry is dealing with people which results in a great element of variances, thus it is virtually impossible to please all their guests. Even a 5-star rating will not satisfy a customer that prefers the ambiance of a small hotel or the coziness and friendliness of a family-run apartment hotel.”
Besides, with the proliferation of the Internet, says Joseph, hotel reviews by websites and online travel agencies like TripAdvisor and Expedia have gained clout among consumers worldwide. In a recent survey in the United Kingdom, it was found that although many travellers still went to travel agents’ offices to check out pricing options and choices, almost 70 per cent actually bought only after checking with a referral website. Another survey showed that 87 per cent of TripAdvisor users reported that a review had a significant influence on their purchase.
NITAS’ position is that handing to the DOT the right to grade hotels and resorts “gives undue power to this government agency. It gives the DOT the power to make or unmake a private enterprise by just adding or subtracting a star in its rating. Because of this power, the temptation to ‘sell’ its final star rating to the highest bidder is all too present. Thus abuse and corruption are not far-fetched under a government-sponsored rating system.”
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