Tourism to the rescue

"The thing about tourism is that the reality of a place is quite different from the mythology of it."
--Martin Parr

By Alex P. Vidal

POLITICS and all other depressing news should now take a backseat for a positive event.
The best way to promote the assets, world-class facilities, and infrastructure and highlight the potentials of Iloilo City and Province is to listen to what the Department of Tourism (DOT) will say on this subject matter.
The best way coax investors and pump lifeblood in Iloilo's economy is to support the DOT programs especially if they will benefit the entire region and create a myriad of opportunities for the Ilonggos.
We can always count on the DOT to sprinkle dynamism and fresh air and change the tune of local discussions from political muckraking to tourism and economic breakthroughs.
Thus we laud the DOT Western Visayas headed by Director Helen J. Catalbas and the Tourism Board for the launching October 9 of the Iloilo City Meetings, Incentive Travels, Conferences/Conventions, Exhibitions/Events (MICE) Campaign with the tagline “Meet you in Iloilo" at the Iloilo Convention Center in Iloilo Business Park, Mandurriao, Iloilo City.

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The event reportedly aims to position Iloilo as MICE destination and will gather top associations and corporations in the Philippines, travel managers and event organizers to see for themselves what Iloilo has to offer.
As quoted in a recent report, Catalbas explained: “The Iloilo City MICE Campaign will not be possible without the support from the Tourism Promotions Board, Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA), MICE Alliance members and other partners. The unity of tourism stakeholders in positioning Iloilo City as MICE destination is an overwhelming factor to promote inclusive growth."
The report added: "In sync with the promotion of Iloilo as MICE destination, DOT VI strongly encourages tourism enterprises to be DOT-Accredited MICE organizer or facility/venue to ensure quality services are being offered to clients and visitors."


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We hope Iloilo City lone district Representative Julienne "Jamjam" Baronda was able to hold a public consultation before she reportedly filed House Bill 3074 or An Act Reapportioning the Lone Legislative District and the Sangguniang Panlungsod of the City of Iloilo.
Under the bill, which was co-authored by two other Iloilo solons, Rep. Raul Tupas (5th district, Iloilo) and Rep. Michael Gorriceta (2nd district, Iloilo), the First Legislative Distrist will be composed of Jaro, La Paz, and Mandurriao while the Second Legislative District will be composed of City Proper, Molo, Arevalo and Lapuz.
In any major legislation involving the district and the welfare of the people, a public hearing is necessary; all the stakeholders must have an active participation and voice in the pre-filing level before a bill of such importance and magnitude is introduced in congress.
In the public consultation, the people will have to hear the pros and cons and the opportunity to further study and strengthen the proposed legislation will be guaranteed.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

Check the lifestyle

"Money and corruption are ruining the land, crooked politicians betray the working man, pocketing the profits and treating us like sheep, and we're tired of hearing promises that we know they'll never keep."
--Ray Davies

By Alex P. Vidal

A FORMER town and provincial official, a good friend of mine, who was lucky to get a juicy position under the Duterte administration, is now super rich.
I know him even before he entered politics. We had the same passion. And he was not rich.
Now, he is a multi-millionaire. No, he didn't win the lotto.
He was neither engaged in the stock market nor in the real estate.
He was a simple man who had a lucky stint in the public service (where he learned the ropes of "how to earn more than what you get in the payroll" without having to work like a slave).
He was a promising "promdi" (from the province) until swallowed by the prevailing system, a common sickness of those given the opportunity to work in the government only to dip their fingers in the cookie jars.
We won't be surprised if he is one of those being investigated by the Presidential Ant-Corruption Commission (PACC) as reported recently.
I personally won't be surprised if one day he will send me another email "to explain my side and to inform you that I am a victim of intrigues and jealousy; and these critics only want to destroy my reputation."
Like what he did when he ran and lost for vice governor.

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The decision to close a portion of Boracay's shoreline for a 72-hour clean-up August 14 after a female tourist allowed her child to defecate in its water, was over acting.
Also, the decision of Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Roy Cimatu to instruct Boracay Inter-agency Task Force (BITF) General Manager Natividad Bernardino to isolate the area for the cleanup, was theatrical.
Authorities could have just cleaned up the mess without necessarily announcing it in the whole world through the mass media after the incident was reportedly caught on video and went viral in the social media.
Their wild reactions only exacerbated the incident's negative effects on Boracay's tourism.
It's like washing their dirty linens in public.

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World class beaches are not spared from beachgoers urinating and pooping in their waters especially during the sunset.
This happens every now and then, but authorities tipped off about the incident were careful not to overreact in order not to turn the fire into a conflagration, or not to make a mountain out of a molehill.
There are municipal ordinances that deal with this kind of unsanitary behavior by vacationers. Local authorities can throw the books on violators.
But if they can help minimize the impact of such incident in public which will have negative effects on tourism, it's best if the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the DENR can solve the mess silently and refrain from making a billow out of it in the mass media.
If publicity in the social media is cruel, publicity in the mass media will leave a bad taste in the mouth.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

We worry for tourism

“The thing about tourism is that the reality of a place is quite different from the mythology of it.”
--Martin Parr

By Alex P. Vidal

WE are worried for tourism in Iloilo and Guimaras in particular, and in Western Visayas in general, following the travel advisory issued by the United Kingdom urging its citizens to avoid travel on ferries and passenger boats in the Philippines following the recent Iloilo-Guimaras Strait maritime mishap that killed nearly 31 boat passengers.
Travel advisories issued by European and American countries always have ripple effects and are monitored and followed by other continents with large business and tourism contingents that regularly circumnavigate the globe.
In the age of internet, the recent UK travel advisory can travel and spread around the universe faster than the tsunami and quicker than the speed of a bullet train.
At this time when our tourism has been reaping inroads and dividends owing to the aggressive and productive campaign instituted by the Department of Tourism (DOT) regional office headed by Director Helen Catalbas, we can’t afford to reap a negative publicity in the global market and altogether slump to square one.
Instead of a leap backward, it must be a long jump forward.

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Guimaras, producer of the best mango in the world, is undoubtedly a tourism wonder and the only viable means to get there vice versa is through a passenger boat.
With UK’s recent travel advisory, tourism and business in Philippine islands that rely heavily on ferries and passenger boats to connect the tourists and their destinations like Guimaras, Boracay, Bohol, Palawan, among other favorite spots in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao will certainly suffer a dent.
The UK travel advisory exhorted its citizens to avoid travel on ferries and passenger, particularly from June to December, the season when the country is frequently hit by tropical cyclones.
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: “They are often overloaded, may lack necessary lifesaving equipment or be inadequately maintained and have incomplete passenger manifests. Storms can develop quickly and maritime rescue services in the Philippines may be limited.”
Let’s hope a new travel advisory from Europe and America will soon come out; this time to pave the way for a quick Renaissance of tourism industry in Western Visayas and in the entire Philippines.

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The “dark past” of Supt. Roland Vilela, penciled in to be the next chief of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO), circulated in the media faster than his credentials and accomplishments as police official.
This came after his name was reportedly chosen recently from among the list of police officials by Iloilo Governor Arthur “Toto” Defensor Jr.
In the past, police officials who would occupy important positions in the Regional Police Office down to the provincial police offices were hailed for their good record and good behavior in press releases prior to assuming their respective assignments.
In the case of Supt. Vilela, it’s the opposite.
As long as he was not yet convicted of any criminal act, he could still perform his tasks as a PNP official; Ilonggos can still give him the benefit of the doubt.
He wouldn’t be allowed to stay in the PNP if he had been found guilty of hooliganism or any serious moral and criminal misconduct.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

Ilonggos’ hospitality is tourism’s No. 1 promoter

“We didn't invent anything new. Hospitality has been around forever.”
-- Joe Gebbia

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- We can hold the Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo City in the Philippines multiple times in one year to attract tourists from all corners of the globe, but if we have a lousy hospitality, tourism will stagnate if not nosedive.
As an annual cultural and religious event held in the fourth week of January each year, the Dinagyang Festival has already captured the world’s imagination what with the digital media technology aside from the Dinagyang ati tribe’s consistent international rendezvous these past seven years, helping provide a colossal publicity and massive promotional tableau.
Dinagyang Festival has reached its peak in as far as universal recognition is concerned.
It is primarily well-advertised there in the Youtube, lionized and chronicled heavily in international journals and flight magazines, and is known all over the social media.
What the stakeholders, led by our officials from the Iloilo City Government, the Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation, the Department of Tourism (DoT) and the Provincial Government of Negros, Guimaras, Iloilo, Aklan, Antique, and Capiz should do now is strengthen the infrastructure and the backbones of Iloilo City and the Western Visayas’ tourism programs.

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This can be done by encouraging investors to build more hotels and resorts, and other entertainment hubs all over Panay Island and Western Visayas, or within the tourism belts where tourism spots are located like in Carles, Iloilo; Anini-y, Antique; Caticlan, Aklan; Pan-ay, Capiz; the island province of Guimaras; Talisay City, Cadiz City, Mambukal, among other known tourist spots in Negros Occidental.
There should be regular trade missions abroad to be participated by the regional provincial governments akin to the trade and economic mission undertaken by the Iloilo City Government in the East Coast in the United States in June 2018.
We should also invest more on the manpower and hospitality by recruiting tourism personnel and train them to become effective tourism ambassadors.
These tourism emissaries must see to it that each year when tourists from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Korea, and Europe arrive for the Dinagyang Festival as well as other similar festivals and events in Iloilo City and in other parts of Western Visayas, these tourists must have the reason to come back or invite, motivate, and bring their fellow nationals.

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It has been proven that tourists are encouraged to come back when they feel a certain extraordinary warmth and peaceful climate even if they are not so head-over-heels by the local festivals and events.
When they see amiable and smiling faces and local folks who can easily and effectively communicate in English, the tourism destination becomes a second priority.
In a sustained tourism promotion, there is no substitute for hospitality.
And we have abundance of it.
When the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), led by Governor Thawatchai Arunyik, conceptualized the “Amazing Thailand” and promoted it internationally in 2015, it was supplemented by a "Discover Thainess" campaign.
The campaign incorporated the "twelve values" that Thai junta leader and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha wanted all Thais to practice.
Due to the "Discover Thainess" campaign, Thai tourism officials foresee a large increase in tourist numbers even as Ms Somrudi Chanchai, director of the TAT Northeastern Office, has forecast that tourists to her Isan region will increase by 27.9 million visitors and thus generate an expected 65 billion baht in revenue.
We can generate more funds in tourism, and with our vast resources and God-given natural wonders and sparkling destinations, the sky is the limit.

A whirlwind of pride for Ilonggos

"You don't stumble upon your heritage. It's there, just waiting to be explored and shared."
--Robbie Robertson

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- There is always an element of pride and exhilaration etched on the face of any Ilonggo anywhere in the world when random discussions take a spiral on the Dinagyang Festival.
Ilonggos are always brimming with so much excitement and enthusiasm once someone brings out the topic on Iloilo City's annual cultural and religious festivities that last for a week highlighted by a fluvial parade, colorful ati dance competitions, among other cultural, religious, sports and tourism programs and activities.
There is no other festival or event that defines the Ilonggos' heritage and culture to the level of maximum bliss and erudition.
The hysteria whipped up by all the positive energy that clustered the metropolis for one week is shared by every stakeholder and those behind the wheels that steered the festival to what it is today.
Ilonggos parlayed and talk about the Dinagyang Festival like they were promoting their own values, talents, and personal achievements in the global platform.

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Dinagyang is Iloilo; Iloilo is Dinagyang.
There is so much goodness and substance that radiate in the horizon when an Ilonggo talks about the 51-year-old festival, which has now become the focal point when our tourism officials led by Department of Tourism-6 Director Helen Catalbas and Iloilo City Tourism Chief Junel Ann Divinagracia promote Iloilo City and Western Visayas as a whole.
Even the Iloilo Business Club (IBC) has been smitten by the Dinagyang's potentials and solid impact on business an investment opportunities over the years.
Although their hands are full owing to the stressful security preparations, members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) get a special attention, credit and commendation when the festival goes to bed with nary an anarchy and revelry-related bedlam.
Ilonggos always find the Dinagyang Festival as an occasion to refine and rebuild their spirit and character.

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Ricardo Alonsabe, an Ilonggo Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) in Victoria, Seychelles, watched the Dinagyang Festival in his laptop in the lobby of a restaurant where he worked last year.
"I opened my Facebook account and was able to get access to the 'live' performances," said Alonsabe, a chef in a restaurant serving African food.
Alonsabe's co-workers and some tourists joined him and they were enthralled by the sound of drums and choreography of ati warriors.
"It's really a world class festival," he chortled.
Alonsabe and thousands of other OFWs all over the five continents were like watching the Dinagyang Festival "live" in the streets.
With the advent of technology, Dinagyang Festival could now be seen on the Internet and in any social media platform.

Emotional

“It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.”
--Buddha

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Sr. exhorted candidates in the Sangguniang Kabataan and barangay elections on May 14, 2018 to control their emotions.
Even if they want to, most of them can’t control their emotions.
Even if they need to, many of them won’t control their emotions.
Elections are an emotional event; candidates always fear defeat and everyone wants to win.
For the reelectionists, there is no substitute for victory; there’s no room for defeat.
For their challengers, victory is right around the corner; as harbingers of change, they aren’t supposed to give up.
When candidates, especially those vying for position of punong barangay or village chief, are running against a friend, a kumpare/kumare or a relative, emotions are at all time high.
The restlessness and bitter feelings are shared by their relatives, as well.
Emotions are at fever pitch especially during the campaign period when mudslinging and accusations fly thick and fast, and after the election results have been known when egos and pride are totally wrecked.

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Because of the size of a barangay, candidates find it hard to avoid each other physically after the elections’ final reckoning.
Some of the candidates are, in fact, neighbors if not colleagues in a religious organization.
Unlike in the elections for mayor, governor and congressman where the protagonists don’t meet face to face immediately for a long while in time for the wounds of campaign bickering to heal, candidates in a barangay election can sometimes rekindle their fresh political rivalry when they bump each other in coffee shops, barbershops, bakeshops and nearby alleys the morning after the tough and excruciating electoral slugfest.
"An emotion is a complex psychological state that involves three distinct components: a subjective experience, a physiological response, and a behavioral or expressive response," according to the book, Discovering Psychology.
This probably explains why it’s so impossible not to get emotional if you are involved in the elections as a candidate on Monday, May 14.

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As a journalist, I go with the Tulfo brothers in their feud with politicians like Senators Bam Aquino, Antonio Trillanes IV, Nancy Binay, and Kiko Pangilinan who sought for a senate probe on the scandalous P60-million Department of Tourism (DoT) advertisement to PTV-4 that ended in the block time program of Ben Tulfo, brother of resigned (or dismissed) DoT secretary Wanda Teo.
While it is their duty to call for an investigation, many of them are probably only trying to get even with the embattled Tulfo brothers after they have been criticized in the radio and TV programs of the hard-hitting brothers in the past.
But on the question of propriety or delicadeza, I disagree with the Tulfo brothers and former Sec. Teo that there was no conflict of interest in the doomed deal.
Based on the paper trail of how the P60 million was released (three trances), the transaction reeks not only with fish, it was done in bad faith from the very start no matter how they tried to sugar coat it.
Teo was right to resign, err President Duterte was right to sack her.

Wanda Teo ‘loses’ to Cesar Montano

“Look around. There are no enemies here. There's just good, old-fashioned rivalry.”
--Bob Wells

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- It’s not a secret in the Department of Tourism (DoT) that resigned secretary Wanda Corazon Teo and Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) chief operating officer Cesar Montano were not in good terms.
For instance, when Teo learned that the Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI) had invited Montano to grace the 119th Philippine Independence Day Parade here on June 4, 2017, she reportedly threatened to cancel DoT’s financial pledge of $100,000 for the festival.
When her alleged threat to cancel the financial windfall leaked to the press, Teo changed mind.
Parade organizers reportedly got the amount but Teo decided to cancel her trip to New York City for the parade.
Dr. Prospero Lim, 2017 president of the New York-based PIDCI, confirmed to this writer in an exclusive interview on May 28, 2017 that Teo “decided to withdraw” from the parade but he did not specify why.
It was Montano who showed up officially to represent the DoT. He joined singers Martin Nievera, Asia’s Nightingale Lani Misalucha, American Idol’s 11th Season 1st runner-up winner Jessica Sanchez, then New York-based Ms World-Philippines 2014 Valerie Weigman, former Grand Champion Global Pinoy Singing Idol, Shane Ericks, and comedian Mikey Bustos in the biggest parade of Filipino community in the United States.

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In many tourism-related festivals and activities in the Philippines and abroad, Teo and Montano reportedly made sure their paths wouldn’t cross.
If both Teo and Montano were invited, one of them would show up and the other wouldn’t.
Although Montano’s office is DoT’s attached agency, the actor would get the same attention as Teo in as far as official invitations were concerned in various tourism-related events in the Philippines and abroad.
The genesis of the purported feud between Teo and Montano could be traced back during the time when Teo’s younger brother, Erwin Tulfo, was a newscaster in the ABS-CBN in 2004.
Montano, who was involved in a spat with several showbiz actresses and martial arts icons, was always the subject of Erwin’s critical commentaries.
Because of Erwin’s tirades, Montano reportedly once challenged Erwin to a fistfight.

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When Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte assumed the presidency in 2016, he gifted Montano, a native of Bohol, with the coveted TPB post for helping him during the campaign period.
TPB is tasked with domestic and international promotions for the DoT.
Duterte gave the top DoT post to Teo, biological sister of hard-hitting media men--Ramon, Ben, Raffy, and Erwin--who also campaigned for Duterte.
Before Teo was in trouble for the P60 million DoT advertising contract placed in her brother’s block time TV program aired over PTV-4, it was Montano who was first hit by controversy over alleged corruption and nepotism.

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TPB employees have filed a complaint against Montano, for entering into alleged questionable contracts and nepotism.
Submitted to the Presidential Action Center, the complaint listed 30 several alleged misdeeds of Montano such as appointing his relatives into positions whose functions are similar to those of incumbent employees, as well as unprofessional behavior.
Among the actor’s alleged malfeasance was the approval of a P11.2-million contract with a production company that had tapped him and his as guest performers.
The complainants said Montano also paid the same production firm P16.5 million in connection to a rally of President Duterte's supporters at Luneta park in Manila on February 25, 2017 where Montano has also performed.
The board also complained of paying for Montano's trips, which they say were not related to his work as chief operating officer.
The actor denied all the charges against him.
While Duterte refused to fire Montano, a protege of Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco, Jr., the president did not hesitate to sack Teo, whose husband Robert, served as assistant Davao city administrator when Duterte was mayor.

Dinagyang’s lifeblood

“Generally, when I come to festivals, I just wander freely and see what happens.”

--St. Lucia

By Alex P. Vidal

NEWARK, New Jersey -- The just-concluded 50^th Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo City in the Philippines wouldn’t have reached the golden year if not for the strong and unwavering support of the advertising industry.

This is where we can best appreciate the role of capitalism.

This is where business, religion, and culture blend together and become vital cogs in progress and productivity.

In any gargantuan undertaking, money is the game changer and trailblazer.

Commercials easily strike a chord with consumers during gigantic events like the Dinagyang Festival held on January 27-28, 2018.

By shifting away from downbeat and snarky campaigns, companies with wise investment in Dinagyang and other prominent annual festivals in the country, can easily connect with consumers, thus their participation also contributes an uptick in local economy.

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Without money, the talents and sacrifices of ati-ati warriors, choreographers and other stakeholders will not be given justice.

Business has pumped millions of advertisement in promotions and sponsorship in the tribes participating in the Kasadyahan and Ati-ati dance competitions, side events like the Miss Dinagyang pageant, sports and other religious and cultural programs related to the week-long feast in honor of Senor Santo Nino, and media commercials and coverage.

Advertisement and sponsorship has become a necessary lifeblood for the promotion and sustenance of the annual festival, now known worldwide because of its sophistication, uniqueness, and grandeur.

The Iloilo Business Club (IBC), Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation, Inc. (IDFI), Filipino-Chinese business and community, Department of Tourism (DoT), Iloilo City and Provincial Governments, and participating schools are actually the primary heroes of the Ilonggo festival that has attracted thousands of visitors and millions of viewers in “live” television and social media coverage.

When chroniclers of this colorful religious and cultural festival produce a manuscript, they will not forget to emphasize that without its lifeblood, Dinagyang Festival, as an integral part of our culture and history, could never breach the golden age.  

Close down Boracay

“A true community is not just about being geographically close to someone or part of the same social web network. It's about feeling connected and responsible for what happens. Humanity is our ultimate community, and everyone plays a crucial role.”

 -- Yehuda Berg

By Alex P. Vidal

NEWARK, New Jersey -- Political will ba ang kailangan, Sec. Roy Cimatu?

Close down Boracay.

This may have been the most “stupid” and “weird” suggestion, nay solution, ever offered to the island’s gnawing environmental and sanitation problems, but it’s how the much-abused line “political will” should be best illustrated if we are really serious in curving the problem and not merely doing a lip service.

A mere expression of “sadness”, “worry”, and “concern” is no longer viable and effective to assuage the stakeholders, especially the residents of Malay, Aklan.

The Romans will tell us, “Nos postulo moventur eundemque” or we need a concrete move.

After an age-old peroration, there must now be dramatic results.

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It was Sec. Cimatu himself who reshuffled the monotonous “political will” line as the supposed solution to arrest the environmental fiasco in the 1,032-hectare premier tourist destination.

Past Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Department of Tourism (DOT) appointees of former presidents have overused and abused those forlorn expressions to the point that they have sounded corny and become phonies in the eyes of the public when nothing has really happened to lift Boracay from the nadir.

So many DENR and DOT officials in the past have performed the same hokey and theatrical show for Boracay’s woes in front of Malay residents since the time of Tita Cory, FVR, Erap, Ate Glo, and P-Noy.

Secretaries Cimatu and Wanda Tulfo-Teo were not the first and  last Famas awardees.

We can only hope their twin-department Boracay rendezvous on January 9, 2018, capped by an amazing aerial inspection, dialogue with local officials and investors, and press conference to boot, will not be buried in the statistics of junkets and end up as another case of ningas cogon like what their predecessors did in the past.

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Closing Boracay can be done if that is the only way to discipline or punish insensitive resort and hotel owners who violate environmental laws with impunity.

When the island is restricted, profits of greedy and callous investors will nosedive.

Sporadic construction of buildings and houses in beach areas prone to surges of the sea and in mountain slopes that produce pollution and sanitation problems will be regulated if will not come to a screeching halt.

Impact on local economy may be catastrophic, but residents must learn to adapt and become self enterprising for the time being. It won’t be the end of the world.

Business must be accompanied with respect and responsibility, commitment to protect and improve the residents’ health and quality of life, and respect for environmental laws as a paramount concern.

The move will anger a lot of stakeholders and may be sneered at by the municipal and provincial governments, Boracay Foundation Inc. (BFI), and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Boracay as harsh and counter-productive.

As the population in the world-famous island increases, so does the intensity of destruction to environment and rapid decline of the residents’ quality of life.  

Political will, isn’t it?