It’s more funds in the Philippines

The Tourism Secretary is gone. Long live the new Tourism Secretary. She is Bernadette Romulo-Puyat. Puyat is as qualified as any that the Philippine government usually appoints to an important Cabinet post.

First of all, she has pedigree. She is the daughter of former senator and one-time secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto Romulo and a granddaughter of the late Carlos P. Romulo, who had more honors attached to his name than a military gala uniform. In the Philippines, pedigree counts.

Remember how we were all mesmerized by the prospect of having the son of heroic Ninoy Aquino and beloved Cory Aquino as president of the Philippines, after much- maligned but impressively credentialed Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo? Secondly, Puyat belongs to altaIn our country, being to the manor born is mandatory for a lofty position, whether in government or private business. According to one news account, “In 2017, PeopleAsia honored Berna, together with 13 other accomplished women, by including her in our annual list of Women of Style & Substance…”

Who cares about Persons of High Intellectual, Technological and Scientific Achievements? Too dull and unglamorous ( it should be pointed out, however, that Puyat graduated magna cum laude at the University of the Philippines, but that doesn’t make her any less glamorous or stylish).

Thirdly, Puyat has served the government as undersecretary of Agriculture in charge of administration, agribusiness, marketing, and regional engagement. Now, if that doesn’t qualify her for the post of secretary of Tourism, I don’t know what will.

After all, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte was considered imminently qualified to become President of the Philippines because he rid Davao City of criminals, and Benigno S. C. Aquino III was considered imminently qualified to become president because his parents were Ninoy and Cory. So, there!

Fourthly — and this is very important in our country — she is a friend of the President. In fact, according to one news account, Duterte once described Puyat as his idea of “an ideal first lady (eat your heart out Sara!).”

The former Tourism secretary Wanda Tulfo Teo had impressive credentials too, having owned a travel agency and having worked as a flight stewardess and, most of all, being a sister of the crimebusting brothers, Tulfo — presidential friends.

Unfortunately, Teo found herself unwittingly embroiled in a scandal that one pundit has described as “more funds in the Philippines.” So she had to resign.

Bernadette Romulo- Puyat assumes the post of secretary of Tourism burdened by a lot of baggage — but no burden could be heavier than promoting Philippine tourism. Ironically, the problem is not that there is nothing to say — or sell — about the Philippines. It is that there is so much to say about it, that two hundred advertising geniuses invariably end up with two hundred different ideas on how to market the country.

It is an axiom in advertising that “saying too much is saying nothing.”

Such has been the fate of Philippine tourism. There are so many things to say about our beautiful country and our beautiful people that Senator Dick Gordon, during his stint as Tourism secretary and being never at a loss for words, could only come up with the expression, “Wow!”

Tourists are usually attracted to beaches and tropical islands ( Hawaii and the Caribbean), shopping and bargains ( Hong Kong), exotic cultures ( India, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia), ancient traditions (Japan and Korea), ersatz tourist attractions ( Singapore), raucous and sexy festivals (Brazil), history and royalty (Europe), and adventure (Africa).

The Philippine has all of these. So how does one promote this smorgasbord of attractions? Gordon summed them all up as “Wow!”