 was not at all mentioned by the President during the last State of the Nation Address,){kind=link}
JUST BECAUSE THE tourism sector (and so with egambling) was not at all mentioned by the President during the last State of the Nation Address, critics were fast in speculating that the Chief Executive was disappointed in the handling by Cristina Garcia Frasco of the department and the dismal performance of the DoT, despite huge sums being spent on her constant travels abroad.
As the saying goes, there are two sides to the coin— either the President is happy or not but he opted to discuss more pressing issues like the economy, food security, national defense, PhilHealth, and more. He also needed to talk about his plans and dreams for the country for the remainder of his term.
The truth, however, is that Frasco’s husband, Rep. Duke Frasco, reportedly vied for the house speakership and that he had been acting independently from the majority’s desires. Lacking the massive resources held by re-elected Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Duke naturally lost the speakership.
Given the media empire of Romualdez, who could ever win the speakership? But let’s see if the resources at his command can get him his aspiration for the presidency to even sidetrack the following (and notoriety) of his direct competitor, Vice President Sara Duterte.
‘To belie critics’ claim that Frasco is on her way out, she is now in India with President Marcos in her search for new markets like India to replace China, which we are steadily losing because of our fight over the West Philippine Sea.’
FRASCO IN INDIA WITH PREXY
To belie critics’ claim that Frasco is on her way out, she is now in India with President Marcos in her search for new markets like India to replace China, which we are steadily losing because of our fight over the West Philippine Sea.
Frasco addressed criticism from lawmakers who called out the DoT for the low tourist arrivals (below its target of 7.7 million arrivals in 2024) making the Philippines lag behind its Southeast Asian neighbors like Thailand and Malaysia.
“What we have to take into consideration is that contingent to that target was our target of 2 million Chinese [tourists] coming into the country,” due to geopolitical concerns and stricter visa requirements,” she explained.
The Philippines only received around 300,000 Chinese tourists last year, out of the 20 million total travelers from China that visited countries in Asia.
REDUCING DEPENDENCE ON CHINA
“We’re definitely landing behind as far as Chinese arrivals are concerned, and that is why, on the part of the DOT, apart from continuing to advocate for a liberalization of visa programs, without compromising national security, we are also advocating for the diversification of markets,” she said.
“[We have to] lessen our dependency on China and open up the Philippines to new markets, that include India, hence the visa-free policy for India, as well as the forthcoming flights from India to the Philippines,” Frasco added.
She said that various delegations have already been sent to India in order to engage with the South Asian country’s tourism stakeholders. Joint promotions and independent campaigns will also be launched so that the Philippines’ presence will be felt across various Indian cities.
INFLUX OF INDIAN MARKET
“Not only that, we continue our talks and negotiations with the aviation sector together with the Department of Transportation, and we’re very pleased that these discussions have resulted in the forthcoming flight from India to Manila, which I understand has already begun selling,” Frasco said.
“I’m excited for the influx of the Indian market into the Philippines and we will ensure, in partnership with the private sector and our stakeholders, that our destinations are ready for the Indian market,” she said.
Frasco shared plans of the Philippines to tap Europe and the Middle East visitors as well as promoting the country in South Korea, Japan, Canada and the United States.
The DoT is looking at “emerging” markets for tourists, like Australia, the United Kingdom and France, as she noted growth in tourist ‘
UNDERFUNDED, NOT UNDERPERFORMING
Frasco said it was unfair to brand the DoT as underperforming “because when you say that sector is not delivering, you are talking about over 6 million Filipinos in the industry and nearly 10 million more stakeholders across the nation.”
Despite a meager budget for promotion in 2025 of P100 million, or just half of what it had in 2024 and the global headwinds (geopolitical tensions, slowing down of economies and wars) still the DoT made good on some of its projects as far as the budget given it allowed.
She said she hopes that deliberations on the proposed 2026 budget would not be affected by partisan politics. The DoT has proposed P3.1 billion budget for 2026 for OSEC and related offices in all regions.
PROGRAMS
Notwithstanding its limited budget, the DOT continues to champion various programs to better promote the Philippines such as (the second cycle) Tourism Champions Challenge, which empowers LGUs to propose projects to provide livelihood to their community-based tourism organizations budgeted at P399 million (up from P255 million in 2024); the Tourism Asenso Loan Program for MSMEs where they can borrow up to P20 million to expand their business, and the training of 326,000 workers on hospitality that is up to par with global standards.
CONTRIBUTION
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said tourism chipped in 8.9 percent or P2.35 trillion to the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024, an amount higher by 11.2 percent compared to the P2.12 trillion contribution in 2023.
“From January to May this year, we are pleased to report that the Philippines has already gained $4.2 billion or P242 billion pesos in estimated visitor receipts, according to DOT data as of June 18, 2025,” Frasco said.
On the Siquijor power issue, Frasco said she has not received reports on the negative impact of power outages in the provinces yet but that such interruptions would be unacceptable and would do injustice to the residents, the stakeholders and ultimately the entire island.
The DoT is waiting for the final masterplan turning the West Philippine Sea into a tourist destination to attract adventure seekers and divers.
“We are working with the Local Government Unit there, as well as our tourism stakeholders to whom we have provided tourism trainings as well as guidance in terms of the development of their facilities to make sure of their readiness to receive more tourists,” she explained.
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