THE recent reshuffle of some regional directors and officials at the head office of the Department of Tourism (DOT) may be a done deal, but industry stakeholders are having none of it.
This developed as Tourism Undersecretary for Administration Rolando Cañizal said familiarity with a region need not be a main consideration in assigning agency officials to certain regions. “It’s not necessary that they are very familiar [with the region]; I don’t think their learning curve will be very long because they are already in the industry for such a long time, they already know how the industry works and what the industry needs. They just have to get to know the people around.”
He noted that other government agencies like the Department of Environment and Natural Resources [DENR] also reshuffle their regional directors. “Even the DENR directors are also adjusting to the places where they’re being relocated. So it’s just the same with us. It’s just that this is the first time we [DOT] are doing this.”
The DOT, in its first Department Order (DO) issued on January 4 and signed by Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon T. Teo, reassigned about 22 directors to new locations or assume new functions, “in the exigency of service.” (See, “DOT directors receive new year surprise as Teo orders major reshuffle,” in the BusinessMirror, January 9, 2018.)
She later explained in a press statement that the reshuffle “is designed to promote managerial potentials and versatility, as well as reawaken their passion for our line of work.”
In an interview with the BusinessMirror, Lax Mendoza, president of the Association of Travel and Tour Agencies of Calabarzon (Calamba, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), said “there was no valid reason for the regional directors [RD] to be replaced.” He noted that tourism plans and programs are usually “laid out ahead of time. [With the reshuffle], we would have to get to know the new RD again; it’s just a waste of a lot time.”
Mendoza is the architect of the petition paper on change.org, which seeks to “retain the DOT regional directors” and persuade the DOT to listen to stakeholders. Since the petition was started on January 6, there are 517 signatories. According to the petition paper, “These regional directors [have] families that they will leave behind. They already have built a harmonious relationship toward their partners in their respective regions, thereby making each of these regions competitive in their own ways.
“Reshuffling should have a consultation with the proper person who handles the regional directors and evaluate their performances,” the position paper added.
Mendoza said he also called the 8888 Citizens’ Complaint Hotline and 8888 Citizens’ Complaint Center to question the reshuffle. Other petition papers are making the rounds to retain the RDs in Eastern Visayas and in the Davao region.
For her part, Tourism Congress Vice Chairman Aileen Clemente said: “More than reshuffling of manpower, it is incumbent and primary to evaluate the systems and process of the DOT that would enable them to be more effective, especially to the industry players,” adding that it was important and “primary” for the government agency to research and collect data.
She added, “so many studies and assessments have been done by so many consultants [on how the Philippines can improve its standing as a global tourism destination], which were provided to the department. Maybe it is time to also check how these should be implemented.
Clemente, who is president of Rajah Travel Corp. and a columnist of this paper, noted that even as the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) for 2016 to 2022 is being carried out, “it is not clear how this is being implemented as we only see the sweeping statements made in the plan. Where are the milestones of what have been achieved here? Then the DOT and the industry can identify where are its shortcomings and where it can improve.”
The NTDP is supposed to be a blueprint for the government to reach certain goals in terms of visitor arrivals and receipts, by enumerating the needed infrastructure in key destinations and marketing new products that would encourage tourists to come to the Philippines. But unlike the previous administration, the current NTDP has yet to be publicly unveiled and no complete copies have been given to the media and tourism stakeholders.
Meanwhile, DOT’s Cañizal said reassigned officials could still discuss the possibility of extending the turnover period to their replacement with Teo.
“That’s the order [that they have a week for the turnover of duties]. I guess if there is any need for possible extension, it has to be discussed with the secretary…. They are also right; if they have things to finish, then they have to finish these. But they need to give a time frame [for the turnover] because the other people in the place where they are to be reassigned will also be anticipating what they’re supposed to do.”
He added that the agency will also study ways how to cushion the impact of the reshuffle on the directors due to the low relocation fee prescribed under the law, which amounts to between P4,000 and P5,500 a month.
One critic of the reshuffle of regional directors noted that P5,000 a month is hardly enough to cover for rent in some major urban areas, not even pay for additional meal costs.
“Right now, we’re studying this because we only live with what is provided under the law. But just because it’s in the law, we can’t do anything to ease our officials’ relocation,” Cañizal said, noting that “perhaps it’s time for the DBM [Department of Budget and Management] to revisit this [relocation costs].