Malacañang has announced the appointment of Roberto “Bob” Zozobrado as the general manager and CEO of the Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA), replacing Cynthia Lagdameo Carrion.
The move follows a report submitted to Malacañang by Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco detailing Carrion’s misconduct during Senate hearings on the 2024 national budget.
Zozobrado, the Manila Standard’s lifestyle columnist, currently serves as the president of the Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP).
He is expected to resign from his private sector posts upon assuming leadership of the PRA, a government-owned and -controlled corporation (GOCC) mandated to promote the Philippines as a retirement haven.
Zozobrado is known for his extensive experience in the tourism industry, having taken on various roles in international airlines and the hospitality industry.
He was also the former Director of Sales at the old Hyatt Regency Manila, apart from being a public relations specialist and marketing consultant. Prior to his election as TCP president, he was chair of the Philippines chapter of the Pacific Asia Travel Association.
As TCP president, he played a key role in establishing the group’s office at the DOT building in Makati and signed a memorandum of understanding with the agency, automatically making newly accredited travel and tourism establishments TCP members.
Zozobrado’s appointment is set to take effect after his swearing-in scheduled for today, Feb. 15, according to official documentation from President Marcos.
Several senators took offense against Carrion after the PRA GM texted them, including Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, to tell them to hasten the deliberation of the 2024 proposed budget of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources last November so the chamber can immediately proceed hearing the Department of Tourism’s (DOT), to which the PRA is attached.
Senator Jinggoy Estrada was the one who called the attention of Carrion, who was also present in the plenary, saying she should not “lecture” senators on how to do their job.
Carrion reportedly messaged Estrada, Zubiri, Senator Pia Cayetano and Senate Deputy Minority Leader Senator Risa Hontiveros while the DENR budget was under interpellation.
Zubiri, who admitted that Carrion is his friend, called the latter’s actions “inappropriate.” Frasco apologized to senators on behalf of Carrion at the Senate plenary debates, saying she ordered an investigation into the PRA GM’s “highly inappropriate, unacceptable, and out-of-line” actions.
She told Carrion, “Senate is an independent body and we must fully respect their schedule, their discretion, their time. We wait like everybody else, because we are in their house.”
“Imagine my shock and complete and utter disappointment when I learned that she, in defiance of what I had been very clear to her about, proceeded to send these inappropriate text messages,” Frasco said.
The Tourism chief ordered Carrion to issue an immediate and personal apology to the senators.
