Berna Romulo-Puyat: Philippine tourism’s bright spot
When President Duterte named Bernadette “Berna” Romulo-Puyat as the new Tourism Secretary last May, many people expressed their approval because of her credentials, her track record and the integrity.
She taught Economics in UP for nine years, and spent 12 years working at the Department of Agriculture as undersecretary, which gave her the opportunity to interact with farmers all over the country and at the same time, get to know the unique attractions of each region and province she would visit.
Not many are aware that Berna — who is on the cover of PeopleAsia magazine’s special “Women of Style and Substance” August-September 2018 issue — was also head of Malacañang’s Political Coalition Affairs during the time of President Gloria Arroyo and spearheaded the government’s Botika ng Barangay project to bring quality affordable medicines to poor Filipinos.
No wonder then that the powerful Commission on Appointments only needed three minutes to decide on her confirmation, with Sen. Migz Zubiri vouching for the new Tourism Secretary, citing her “integrity and hard work.”
The Cabinet official is a woman of style and substance. Photo by MAU AGUASIN
Everyone knows the travel and tourism industry is a key driver of economic growth, having contributed more than P3 trillion to the economy in 2017, accounting for 21 percent of the country’s GDP growth according to data from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). Tourism generates a lot of jobs for various sectors including real estate because the growing number of tourists pushes demand for new hotels and resorts.
Baguio, for instance, exceeded its target of one million tourists for 2017 — providing employment for 2,943 workers last year. Baguio City was also named as one of the 64 new cities included in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Creative Cities Network (UCCN), prompting the DOT to challenge other cities to be as creative — if not more so.
Not surprisingly, Berna is also championing agri-tourism and is intent on promoting little-known destinations in the country in order for visitors to have a taste — literally — of the culinary wonders that are just waiting to be discovered in these lesser-known tourist spots. After all, the Philippines is more than just beaches, we also have the best cuisine, the Tourism chief asserts.
Obviously, the incident involving the Xiamen Air plane that skidded off the runway at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), which prompted authorities to close the main runway of the airport for several days, has affected the travel and tourism sector as hundreds of domestic and international flights affected due to delays and cancellations, with thousands of passengers also inconvenienced.
With Berna Romulo-Puyat and Charlie Cojuangco. Photo by MANUEL GENEROSO
The incident is “an eye-opener,” Berna says, but remains optimistic that the DOT will be able to meet its target of 7.4 million visitors this year. The fact is, the new Tourism Secretary has already aired her concern about the need to increase runways weeks before the Xiamen Air incident — which has renewed support for the proposal of San Miguel president and COO Ramon Ang to build a state-of-the-art “aerotropolis” in Bulacan to mitigate the problems involving NAIA and at the same time, provide tourists the comfort and convenience offered by modern airports all over the world.
