President Rodrigo Duterte must clean up the Department of Tourism. It’s getting to be too scandal-ridden.
A month ago, the DoT was accused of using a plagiarized advertisement to promote tourism in the Philippines. It was also discovered that the advertisement was the product of a multi-million peso contract the DoT signed with a famous advertising agency.
It is unclear if that contract was subject to public bidding.
Public indignation eventually forced the DoT to cancel the contract. Surprisingly, nobody in the DoT or the advertising agency owned up to the alleged plagiarism.
Eventually, the embarrassing incident was quietly forgotten in the news media when other controversies erupted after it.
That wasn’t the end of the anomalies in the DoT.
Two weeks ago, the news media revealed that a group composed of four members of the House of Representatives, four legislative assistants, and four officials of the DoT were to embark on a week-long junket to Iceland and Norway on Friday, July 14. The junket was to last until July 22.
Airline tickets for the group, which cost around P2.1 million, had already been reserved, and to be paid for by taxpayers’ money. Expenses for hotel accommodations and other related costs were not disclosed to the news media.
It was also revealed that the congressmen who were to join the junket were Oscar Garin Jr. of Iloilo, Paolo Javier of Antique, Ma. Carmen Zamora of Compostela Valley, and Mark Sambar of the Pwersa ng Bayaning Atleta party-list. They were to be accompanied by Julieta Apostol, Jocelyn Lim, Liza Mijares, and Cecilia de Sahagun of the House secretariat.
Those from the DoT who were believed to join the junket were Director Milagros Say, Operations Officer Ruth Tizon, and Division Officer Jerlie Ganiga. The fourth DoT official was reportedly DoT Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo.
After the news broke out, DoT spokesman Ricky Alegre announced that the congressmen and their assistants were to go to the two Nordic countries to observe their practices in gender equality. The spokesman added that the junket is justified under an existing law on gender awareness development.
Alegre insisted that the overseas trip was not yet confirmed, and that Secretary Teo and DoT personnel were not part of the junket. Despite the disclaimer, Alegre declared that the trip was to enlighten Filipinos about policies that will “empower women” and “promote gender equality.”
The next day, it was announced that the junket had been cancelled.
A day after that, news stories revealed that a leading shopping mall chain and a credit card company launched a promotional campaign that will give lucky shoppers a chance to go to Iceland and see the aurora borealis or “the northern lights,” a natural phenomenon visible only in areas near the Arctic Circle.
Maybe the House-DoT junket was also a chance for Philippine government officials to view the northern lights, but at the expense of the Filipino taxpayer.
Anyway, had it not been for the disclosure made by the news media, that junket to Iceland and Norway would have probably pushed through. That would have meant millions of pesos of taxpayers’ money wasted on a sightseeing trip masquerading as an observation mission.
Why does the House and the DoT have to send a large contingent to observe women empowerment and gender equality policies in Iceland and Norway, when Filipino refugees from Marawi are starving? With the typhoon season here, shouldn’t the money for that junket be spent for disaster relief operations instead?
It would have been more practical and economical if Filipino consular officers from Iceland and Norway gave their report and recommendations to Congress about their observations on women empowerment and gender equality at their overseas postings.
Three of the four congressmen in that aborted junket are men. If that junket is supposed to promote women empowerment and gender equality, shouldn’t the contingent be composed of an equal proportion of males and females?
Why is there a need for four assistants to participate in a week-long overseas activity? There are enough Philippine consular employees in Iceland and Norway (or in nearby postings) to assist the congressmen. Those employees can’t be too busy there near the Arctic Circle. In fact, that is what they are posted there for—to assist Filipinos who happen to be there.
This latest incident involving the DoT looks like a repeat of another shameless event involving government officials identified with ex-President Aquino III.
When the Philippines filed a case against Communist China in the international arbitration panel at The Hague, in the Netherlands, a couple of years ago, Aquino sent a contingent of useless officials to The Hague, ostensibly to observe the hearing. They were useless officials because the Philippines was aptly represented in all hearings by American experts in international law hired by Manila. In other words, those officials were not needed at the hearing, and they obviously went along for a European vacation at taxpayers’ expense.
Those useless officials include ex-Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, and ex-House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte.
Even if she was the justice secretary, De Lima had no business being there. It’s the solicitor general, not the justice secretary, who is tasked to oversee Philippine cases in international tribunals. Besides, De Lima’s line of legal expertise is election law, not international law.
By being there, De Lima manifested more interest in matters outside her duties as justice secretary. That is probably why the national penitentiary, which is under her supervision, became a narcotics center during her watch.
Belmonte may be the Speaker of the House of Representatives back then, but international arbitration hearings are a concern of the executive department, not the legislative department.
Whether these officials even understood the proceedings at The Hague is anybody’s guess.
This second embarrassing incident involving the DoT should not be followed by a third. President Duterte must clean up the DoT now.