Frasco’s leave filed before ‘Love the Philippines’ fiasco – DOT

MANILA, Philippines — Department of Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco filed her vacation leave ahead of the “Love the Philippines” tourism ad campaign fiasco, the DOT said yesterday.

According to Ina Zara-Loyola, director of the agency’s public affairs and advocacy, Frasco filed her leave on May 9.

The request was received by the Office of the President on the same day and was approved by President Marcos on May 23.

The agency is under criticism after a controversy involving a promotional video created by advertising agency Doyle, Dane and Bernbach (DDB) Philippines for using non-original, foreign stock footage.

A P49-million budget was allotted by the DOT for the said tourism campaign, which was presented during the launch of the slogan on June 27.

The DOT has yet to answer questions about whether Frasco will be postponing her leave amid the backlash that the department has been facing.

The tourism secretary’s leave is from July 13 to 21 to spend time with her family, and she will be back in time for the second State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Marcos on July 24, Loyola said.

Loyola added that DOT Undersecretary Elaine Bathan will be taking over as officer-in-charge during Frasco’s vacation leave.

Expansion

The Asian Business Aviation Association (AsBAA) on July 10 underscored the need for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to have the capacity to expand and grow, in order to improve like other small global airports.

In an interview aired over One News’ The Chiefs, AsBAA Philippine chapter chairman Patrick Roa said the NAIA should have the capacity to expand and grow.

Roa used the Incheon and Hong Kong airports as examples, saying that before, they were operating only two runways, but they eventually operated three and four runways.

“You have the capacity to grow. We have all the economists and statisticians to actually show us and be able to project that. We have to put the science in there and design something that is long term, that is modular and expandable,” Roa said, as he voiced the need to possibly reexamine the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).

The NAIA may be privatized as early as the first quarter of next year, the DOTr said last month.

The government earlier submitted a joint proposal for the public-private partnership for NAIA, as the government aims to have better service at the airport.

Meanwhile, Passenger Forum convenor Primo Morillo said that while a majority of the people still want to use the NAIA, they want to see improvements on the possibility of commuting to the airport.

“They have to fix NAIA. And, one of those they want is to improve the possibility that people may commute to and from the airport, that they are not obliged to use taxis or transportation network vehicle services,” he said.

“People are not seeking a new airport, at least here in Luzon. What passengers want is to fix the situation of the existing airport,” he added.