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'Bakit mukha mo ang pino-promote?' Tourism Sec Frasco answers criticism on self-promotion

Article (news)

David Dizon

ABS-CBN News

Tourism Secretary Maria Esperanza Christina Garcia Frasco on Tuesday answered critics who say she is always promoting herself in promotional material for the department.Speaking to DZMM, Frasco said her background as a former mayor means she is always on the frontlines promoting tourism.“Nandiyan talaga ako sa frontlines. I am on the ground, I am on the field. Sa direktiba po ng ating Presidente, sabi po niya when he recruited me and invited me to become [a] Cabinet secretary, he said you must make the work of tourism felt in as far a destination as you can so that they can feel the work of government, they can feel the work of tourism development in their destination,” she said.She added that in less than 3 years, she has already visited all the regions in the Philippines and has visited more than 70 provinces in the country including Batanes, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.“Hindi lang tayo nagpo-posing-posing doon. May dala din tayong government programs kagaya ng Philippine experience program,” she said. She said the Philippine experience program allows tour operators to know more about lesser known tourist spots.Klook has already started offering packages to these Philippines experience destinations, she said.She said the furor over alleged self-promotion started after a photographer accused the Department of Tourism of paying him to take pictures of tourist destinations only to see pictures of the secretary used as the cover of a travel magazine.“Sinabi ko daw at sinabi ng DOT na mukha ko ang ilagay doon sa front cover ng magazine. Not true, wala akong kinalaman doon. Walang kinalaman ang DOT. Walang binayad ako o DOT. It is privately published and funded. We had absolutely nothing to do with the magazine. DOT has no contract with the photographer,” she said.She said the photographer took down his social media post after DOT issued the clarification.The tourism chief also answered critics who said the DOT Facebook and X pages often promote Frasco’s photos instead of actual tourism destinations.She said the DOT’s corporate page is used to report on the work of the agency to support tourism development, while promotions on tourism destinations can be seen in the social media pages of The Philippines.  “A clear distinction was made. If there is a certain narrative that you want to pursue, hindi na tinatanggap ‘yung distinction na ‘yun,” she said.<div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kSBwTFAu8Vg?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe> The tourism chief said the DOT has increased tourism rest areas all over the country, noting that lack of restrooms is the number one complaint of tourists.</div>Frasco noted immigration records showed 5.94 million foreign arrivals and 543,000 overseas Filipino arrivals in 2025, totaling 6.4 million.  E-travel records, however, showed 5.85 million arrivals but noted that some individuals such as diplomats and cruise travelers are exempt from registering via e-travel.Domestic tourism remains a highlight, with domestic trips increasing from 122 million in 2019 to 134 million in 2024.One problem faced by the DOT, Frasco said, is funding, noting that the funding for tourism promotion was slashed from P1.2 billion in 2023 to only P100 million in 2025. She thanked the President and Congress for allocating more funds to tourism this year, at P1 billion, but pointed out that other Asian countries are outspending the Philippines on promoting tourism “3 to 10 times.”Amid the criticism, the tourism chief admitted that 2025 was “a very tough year for the Phlippines”, which saw 34 travel alerts issued by different countries due to earthquakes, typhoons and other events.“Kung meron ‘yan, mahihirapan din tayo mag promote ng country,” she said.<div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yeR4QqFZvzQ?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe> </div>

Tourism Secretary Maria Esperanza Christina Garcia Frasco on Tuesday answered critics who say she is always promoting herself in promotional material for the department.

Tourism Secretary Maria Esperanza Christina Garcia Frasco on Tuesday answered critics who say she is always promoting herself in promotional material for the department.