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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Zubiri pushes for Cabinet tourism cluster to take care of Philippine's 'crown jewels'

Zubiri pushes for Cabinet tourism cluster to take care of Philippine's 'crown jewels'

Published Aug 16, 2024 02:30 am

At A Glance

  • Sen. Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri floated the idea of creating a Cabinet tourism cluster after President Marcos approved Education Secretary Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara's proposal to establish an education cluster.

State economic managers should also consider forming a Cabinet tourism cluster that would be in charge of addressing the multi-faceted problems of the tourism industry, as well as taking care of the country’s “crown jewels” such as Siargao, Palawan and other tourist destinations.

 

Zubiri floated the idea of creating a Cabinet tourism cluster after President Marcos approved Education Secretary Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara’s proposal to establish an education cluster.

 

“Why can't we just do the same cluster that Sec. Angara has done for education? He came up with an educational cluster. Can we return the tourism cluster wherein we have the DOT, the DOTr, the DPWH, and the DOE working together to support what, Palawan, El Nido, Coron, (and) Siargao,” Zubiri said during the budget hearing with the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC).

 

During the DBCC meeting, Socioeconomic Planning Sec. Arsenio Balisacan said the tourism industry’s contribution to the country’s economy amounted to P2.09 trillion in 2023, which accounts for 8.6 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

 

Zubiri said he believes this can increase further to 20 percent considering that the Philippine’s neigboring countries are also getting tourists left and right.

 

“We just need a straight flight from Europe to the Philippines. This is the problem now … It (tourism) contributes so much to the economy and the GDP, but yet we do not focus on it,” Zubiri said.

 

For instance, Zubiri said the government can fix the sad state of Siargao which is currently experiencing challenges in electric supply. The island, he said, was literally experiencing power outages that lasts or hours. 

 

The lawmaker said a tourism masterplan can help solve, not only the power woes of Siargao, but also those of the country’s tourism crown jewels.

 

“I'm letting the finance team know that because it's a whole-of-government approach, and I think we all have to help (the) DOT (Department of Tourism) through this convergence. Maybe you can ask the President to do that,” he stressed, referring to the Cabinet tourism cluster.

 

Related Tags

DBCC crown jewels Sonny Angara PH tourism migz zubiri
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