Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat (center) and Hanky Lee (right) with Joey Gaston at the Chapel of the Cartwheels in Manapla. | PHOTO: Ronnie Baldonado
BACOLOD CITY––Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat on Wednesday, May 18, brought hotelier Hanky Lee to Negros Occidental hoping he would invest in the province.
“I hope he decides to put up a hotel here,” said Puyat, who was in Negros Occidental on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Lee, the owner and founder of the Filipino vintage-modern The Henry hotels, was surprised at what he saw, saying he wanted to return to Negros and bring his friends.
Puyat visited the Gaston Ancestral House, Chapel of the Cartwheels, and the Hacienda Crafts weavers in Hacienda Sta. Rosalia in Manapla.
She was accompanied by Lee, Tourism Regional Director Cristine Mansinares, Slow Food Community Negros Island member Ramon Uy Jr., and Provincial Tourism Officer Cheryl Decena.
Puyat is ending her term as tourism secretary and said she is moving on to another job.
“You don’t have to be a tourism secretary to promote the country,” she said.