THERE’S A thousand and one ways to skin a cat, so goes a famous quotation from where President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. must have learned the art of firing incompetent people in his Cabinet.
Recently, the Palace announced the appointment of Christina Frasco as Presidential Adviser for Sustainable and Resilient Communities.
Her marching order involves dealing with communities withstanding the shocks from climate disasters or socioeconomic disruptions by integrating green energy, robust and accessible public services and strong social networks.
For one, the President wields the power to appoint. But in the case of Frasco, it looks more like a subtle way of firing an appointee for failure to deliver results.
TOURIST ARRIVALS
Prior to the Palace announcement, Frasco was the Secretary of the Department of Tourism (DOT). She was personally handpicked even before Marcos formally assumed the presidency.
But after almost four years, Frasco failed to deliver. She missed a year on year target for tourism arrival.
In her first year in office as DOT chief, Frasco reported a dismal 2.65 foreign tourist arrivals. Her excuse over the laggard performance — lack of funds to promote the country’s tourism program.
In 2023 the Tourism boss got what she wanted. The President haggled Congress to allocate more funds for the DOT, for which resulted in 5,450,557 international tourist arrivals in 2023, exceeding the DOT target of 4.8 million and marking a significant post-pandemic recovery, or so we thought.
For 2024, DOT was given more. The huge resources however yielded just a little more than the previous year — 5.65 million which is way below the 7.7 million target international tourist arrivals.
Last year, the DOT under Frasco was only able to lure in 6.48 million international visitors despite getting a lion’s share in the 2025 General Appropriations Act.
TOURISM CAMPAIGN
Sometime in June 2023, the DOT made a grand launch of the “Love the Philippines” tourism campaign. Topbilling in its launch is a video which seemed fine at the first look. However, the video turned out to be a fraud.
The promotional video was found to have used stock footage of tourist attractions in other countries, including Indonesia, Thailand, Switzerland, and the UAE.
The launch video, produced by DDB Philippines, included scenes of rice terraces in Bali, a fisherman in Thailand, a Swiss airplane, and sand dunes in the UAE.
DDB Philippines apologized, stating the video was intended as a “mood video” for internal stakeholders and not for public release. Frasco terminated the contract with DDB Philippines, noting that no public funds were paid for the specific, controversial video.
Despite the backlash, the DOT kept the “Love the Philippines” branding, amid calls for congressional “investigation in aid of legislation” and widespread criticism regarding the authenticity of the campaign.
The campaign aimed to shift focus toward “authentic experiences,” but was overshadowed by the scandal, with some lawmakers calling the multimillion-peso campaign “unsalvageable” due to the negative publicity.
PROMOTING HERSELF
As if the two controversies weren’t enough, Frasco again found herself at the receiving end of nasty remarks after being accused of self-promotion that saw her image featured in tourism-related materials
No less than Senator Raffy Tulfo criticized her for allegedly highlighting herself—rather than tourist destinations—in some tourism promotion materials.
During a senate hearing, Tulfo presented slides of magazines and other materials in which photos of Frasco were prominently featured — “I’m very sorry, Secretary Frasco. Parang lumilitaw na parang nagiging vlogger na kayo. It will not sell if the marketing materials are filled with your face. It shouldn’t happen,” Tulfo said.
Citing a magazine circulated in Japan, Tulfo said the material was a “missed opportunity” to promote Philippine tourism abroad.
“For example, there’s this magazine in Japan. I think it’s a free publication. It was supposed to be an opportunity to showcase our tourism industry in Japan,” he said.
“Instead, it’s you who appears—just you, even during the groundbreaking ceremonies,” the senator added.
“In other countries like Vietnam, Korea, Malaysia, and Japan, you don’t see the faces of their tourism secretaries in promotional materials.”
GENTLE TERMINATION
With Frasco’s appointment as presidential adviser, Marcos named Undersecretary Verna Buensuceso as officer in charge, with the palace clarifying that she did not resign but was just given a new position.
As presidential adviser for sustainable and resilient communities, she would be working in the field — integrating green energy, robust and accessible public services and strong social networks.
But taking into consideration her protected and secured social standing, Frasco might not be able to cope with the rigors of her new position.
“As many areas across the country face increasing climate-related hazards and disruptions that affect local economies and livelihoods, the president has tasked Secretary Frasco to take on this role to help strengthen the implementation and sustained follow-through of priority national initiatives at the community level,” Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said in a press briefing.
“The president expressed his appreciation for her service at the Department of Tourism and conveyed confidence that her experience working closely with local governments and communities will continue to support the Administration’s priorities,” the presidential mouthpiece added.