THE Department of Tourism (DOT) has canceled the fourth edition of Madrid Fusión Manila (MFM), previously set for April 2019, due to budgetary constraints.
In an interview with the BusinessMirror, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Fatima Romulo Puyat said: “After the unfortunate experience of the DOT and the Tourism Promotions Board [TPB] with large-ticket projects in the recent past, we felt we had a fiscal responsibility to taxpayers to spend our limited budget more wisely. We have to prioritize the projects we will assist.”
The Commission on Audit (COA) had earlier tagged the DOT and TPB for financial irregularities in controversial multimillion-peso projects, which led to the eventual resignations of former Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon Tulfo-Teo and TPB Chief Operating Officer Cesar Montano.
Under the national expenditure program for fiscal year 2019, the DOT’s proposed budget is P3.4 billion as it targets some 8.2 million in foreign visitor arrivals. This is slightly less than this year’s P3.48 billion.
“We will continue to focus our resources on the many pressing challenges in the industry,” said Romulo Puyat, “in particular to address the needs of sectors that require support as stakeholders adopt our policy of sustainable tourism.”
She added, given the urgency of those demands, “we are fully dedicated to optimizing DOT’s resources and allocating our budget toward programs and projects that directly impact communities, especially at the grassroots, that need government aid to be sustainable. Efforts such as the development of farm tourism will provide a dependable source of income for Filipinos in their locales but will also be vital to countryside development.”
MFM is an annual gastronomy event which local chefs, culinary professionals, culinary students, and foodies look forward to. The project was initiated under the term of former Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr., with the very first edition held in April 2015. Under the terms of the memorandum of understanding between Foro de Debate, the Spanish organizer, and the DOT, the Philippine government has to fork over a $120,000- (P6.4-million) franchise fee annually to be able to hold the Manila edition.
The DOT chief, however, left an opening for the private sector to take up MFM 2019. “The private sector is free to link up with Foro if they wish to take on the project on their own,” she said.
On whether the fourth MFM could be held in 2020, Romulo Puyat said, “We will see how much funds will be available for us. Our budget hearing for FY 2020 will be held sometime in the middle of 2019 yet. We will keep you posted if there are any changes in said project.”
MFM features foreign Michelin-starred chefs and local chefs who present their philosophies and demonstrate culinary techniques during the international gastronomy congress. At the same time, regional lunches featuring the country’s most popular chefs who use local ingredients are held during the three-day event. There is also an exhibit of local and Spanish food ingredients, Philippine produce, beverages, artisanal food creations, as well as kitchenware and chef’s apparel.
When she was an undersecretary at the Department of Agriculture (DA), Romulo Puyat was among MFM’s ardent supporters. The DA, as a partner agency, provided the local food ingredients for the local chefs’ dishes during the special regional lunches.
“We in the DOT recognize what the local food industry has contributed in promoting the country as a vibrant culture with its own unique flavors to the world,” she said. “This was only strengthened by events such as Madrid Fusion Manila, which not only helped in creating a discussion about Filipino cuisine abroad but also in cultivating a more robust interest in our homegrown agricultural produce within the local culinary scene.”
The DOT vowed to continue supporting Filipino gastronomy by focusing its efforts on areas that will make it truly sustainable. “Our regional offices will continue to develop and improve culinary and farm tourism product offerings, while the department’s foreign offices will continue to promote the country as a premier culinary destination to the international market,” said Romulo Puyat.
The fourth edition of MFM was supposed to have been held this September, but due to the leadership changes that took place in the DOT and TPB, as well as the lack of time and venue, the event was moved to April 2019. (See, “DOT moves 4th Madrid Fusión Manila to 2019,” in the BusinessMirror, June 22, 2018.)