Trashing tourism

When one invites visitors to his home, one of the first things a guest notices is how the house is kept – if it is clean, tidy or orderly – a reflection of one’s character. Certainly, when we invite tourists to this country, we would like to put our best foot forward. But how can we invite them and our balikbayan friends and relatives to come home after being away for so many years, if the first thing they see coming from the airport is this polluted estero filled with human waste and all kinds of stinking garbage floating on black murky water along Tramo street in Pasay City?

Several months ago after coming from a long trip abroad, one of the first things I saw was this disgusting Tramo street estero. I was so disgusted I told my driver to stop, got off my car and took a photo of this horrific sight with my digital camera. I then sent the photo to our STAR editor-in-chief Isaac Belmonte, who was kind enough to print it on the front page of The Philippine STAR.

The very next day, our friend Environment Secretary Angie Reyes took note of it and immediately resolved the problem. The other day, the same estero was there again drowning in filth. I called Angie Reyes who frankly told me that while it is the DENR that sets policies regarding the environment, the implementation in cleaning up esteros and similar areas is left to the local government.

We can go ahead and suspend Peewee Trinidad and put in Allan Panaligan or whoever as mayor. It’s bad enough we have to breathe shitty air – but come on – let’s make sure somebody does his job and keeps the place clean. Pasay is a premier city where the airport is located, yet the first thing that tourists see is this dirty estero. Maybe it’s time for Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Bayani Fernando to be given more powers especially in tourist-belt areas, so tourists are not left with the impression that we are a filthy country with polluted esteros and garbage-filled creeks.

Poor Ace Durano. The coming election has distracted him from his work as tourism secretary, being the administration ticket’s spokesman. He can sing to high heavens about how "wow" the Philippines is. But with this polluted estero, I can assure you – nobody will want to visit this country. Like Hong Kong, people are visiting it less and less because it has now become one of the most polluted cities in the world.

Almost 26 percent of expats have been steadily leaving Hong Kong since 2001 because they could not stand the dirty air. A year ago, a number of participants in a marathon ended up in the hospital because of respiratory problems. Even China is suffering the consequences of pollution, with one of their rivers getting declared as toxic and cancerous. Even with the Beijing Olympics slated in 2008, a big problem for the organizers is to reduce pollution, and they’re trying drastic measures like banning cars and building more public transport systems in a bid to reduce smoke emissions.

We better clean up our act if we want to invite visitors to this country. Otherwise, we’re just fooling ourselves with all the "wow" promos about the Philippines. In the end, we will just be trashing tourism.

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La Sallite named AIM president

Today is the investiture of a college mate of mine, Francis Estrada, as the new president of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM). He will be replacing Bobby de Ocampo who also happens to be a La Sallite. Francis is a financial genius and a prominent international investment banker, whose extensive knowledge and international network is well known. I’m sure his management savvy will make this "Harvard of the East" an even more prestigious institution.

La Sallites are known to be pragmatic and good at business, while their perennial rivals– the Ateneans – are known for their Jesuit training of idealism and righteousness. A Christian Brothers education has produced businessmen like Jose Concepcion and Jose Cuisia, while the Jesuits have produced Jose Pidal, Jose Velarde and Jose Rizal. By the way, I, too, am a Jose, but was fortunate or unfortunate enough – whichever way you look at it – to have gone to both schools.

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