Time for a new tourism secretary
Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco has come under fire in the past few days after a photographer blasted the Department of Tourism (DOT), claiming he was instructed to take tens of thousands of photos in 320 tourist spots across the country, only for the agency to instead feature a coiffured image of Frasco on the cover of a tourism magazine.
Photographer Max Abasolo made this post on Facebook: “‘Yung pinag-shoot [niyo kami] ng Region 1 to Region 13 … almost 320 tourist [spots]. 236,000 photos. 6,500 video materials. Tas [ito] lang palaaa lalagay [niyo], DOT. (You made us shoot photos from Region 1 to Region 13 … almost 320 tourist spots, 236,000 photos, 6,500 video materials. In the end, this is all you put, DOT.)”
Abasolo’s post went viral, even though he subsequently deleted it. Soon, netizens were posting other pictures of Frasco being featured on tourism promotion materials in lieu of the country’s many tourist spots. John Sherwin Felix commented on Facebook that “A few scrolls through the DOT’s Facebook page are enough to induce fatigue: an overwhelming flood of her (Frasco’s) photos from ribbon cuttings, roadshows, and MOA signings, content that a typical traveler would never care about, and that does nothing to inspire confidence in Philippine tourism or attract visitors.”
The DOT came to the defense of Frasco, clarifying that the subject magazine, “Philippine Topics,” is a private publication and not an official magazine of the DOT. The tourism department added that it neither contracted with, paid, commissioned, nor directed the magazine to produce its cover or feature story, stressing that all decisions were made independently by the private publication.
Really now? Philippine Topics is reportedly an 82-page publication, which includes “sections dedicated to the Department of Tourism and its initiatives … and many of the inside pages focus more on the secretary and her plans for the tourism sector than the country’s tourism attractions themselves,” as described by the online site of Travel And Tour World. Even if it’s a private publication, it is the DOT that reportedly distributes the magazines, and it does so by giving them away for free.
Who on earth is in his or her right mind, willing to publish an 82-page magazine without any remuneration for the publication expenses incurred and without any income gained? Why would a private company act as a government agency’s (and Frasco’s) publicist without being compensated for the effort? Why would the DOT take on the responsibility and expense of distributing the magazine? And why would the DOT distribute the magazines for free? The DOT’s excuse sounds very fishy. While the DOT denies that it paid the publisher to produce the magazine, the DOT did not deny that it purchased and paid for the bulk copies of the magazine that it distributed for free. For how much? What other projects or services were contracted to the publisher by the DOT?
Frasco is under fire because of multiple complaints that she is using DOT resources for self-promotion, and that she has been so preoccupied with advertising herself, even though the DOT has failed to meet its targets of tourist arrivals for two consecutive years. In 2024, the DOT set a goal of 7.7 million international arrivals but only achieved approximately 5.95 million visitors. The Philippines recorded only 5.6 million international tourist arrivals in 2025, about 33 percent short of the 8.4 million target. The DOT has come under fire because of our country’s dismal tourist arrival numbers compared to other Southeast Asian countries.
Frasco is accused of the deplorable conduct derisively called “epal.” This refers to the misuse and abuse of government resources to promote and publicize public officials in aid of elections. Apart from the cuts and commissions obtained by public officials from government funds, epal is another form of corruption that deplorably plagues our politics. We see rampant evidence of this kind of corruption among politicians who brazenly put their names on gyms, evacuation centers, school buildings, and other infrastructure projects. We see the shameless practice of epal in the distribution of financial assistance to indigents like the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers, Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations, and even in the distribution of relief goods.
Epal is the scheme through which politicians misrepresent to the people that public funds and public projects are doled out from their own pockets, enabling them to accumulate undeserved debts of gratitude. Epal is the system that allows politicians to cultivate patronage and hold voters hostage during elections.
There’s talk that another Cabinet revamp is in the offing because of the dismal approval rating garnered by President Marcos in the latest survey by Pulse Asia. Alter egos like Frasco drag down the President in the eyes of the people. It’s time for the President to look for a new tourism secretary.
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