Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim on Saturday said that he was not mabongga (showy) enough for his post, and that his successor should necessarily have more flair and media savvy.
A day after announcing that he was resigning his post effective August 31, Lim also said his successor should not only “fight” for the “pocket open skies” policy but also closely work with fellow Cabinet members whose departments had a strong impact on the Philippine tourism industry.
There should be a “tourism cluster” in President Aquino’s official family, he said.
“One lesson I learned is that in the tourism sector, you need to be mabongga. You need to have good PR to showcase what you have done,” Lim told the Inquirer in an interview. “But I’m not like that. The successes we had in the department … I wasn’t even eager [to show off].”
Lim said his successor had to “work closely with other Cabinet members because many factors—like airports, roads to tourist destinations, visas, taxes—are outside the Department of Tourism’s control.”
“He will need to reach out because the DOT is focused on promotions. So I think the suggestion that the Cabinet should have a tourism cluster is a good one,” Lim said.
Lim also said he had heard the name of advertising executive Ramon R. Jimenez being floated as his replacement.
“Although I don’t know him that well, he’s a very good ideas man. He did very well in the advertising world,” Lim said.
He said that if Jimenez were appointed, the latter would do well in the “needed refurbishing” of the Philippines’ image as a major tourist destination.
EO 29
Lim said his successor should continue to push for the “pocket open skies” policy—which eases restrictions on foreign airlines and allows them to land in select international airports outside the capital—so that more foreign tourists traveling on cheaper plane fares would visit the Philippines.
“[My successor] should not only maintain it but also fight for it,” Lim said, pointing out that the President approved the “pocket open skies” policy when he signed Executive Order No. 29 in March.
EO 29 “authorizes the Civil Aeronautics Board and the Philippine panels to pursue more aggressively the international civil aviation liberalization policy.”
When asked whether vested interests hurt by this policy could have had a hand in his leaving the Cabinet, Lim laughed and said with a sigh: “We can speculate.”
He said he gave up the tourism portfolio because he needed to rest and because his family was getting affected by criticisms over his row with the Tourism Congress.
But he said these criticisms did not influence the President’s decision to accept his resignation, adding that the latter “does not even know” his critics personally.
Lim also said he had spoken with the President about the latter’s much-reported quip of having two or three “headache” Cabinet members, the tourism secretary supposedly among them.
Lim said that he was abroad when Mr. Aquino made the quip, and that he asked about it when he returned to Manila.
“I’m sorry that this happened,” Lim quoted the President as saying.
“It was supposed to be a joke but the intrigues started,” Lim said. “It took a life of its own.”
Lim said that while the job of tourism chief carried many perks, he needed a rest from the many appointments and events.
Treated like royalty
“Yes, it’s fun, and you are given the best suites … In fact, you are treated like royalty … But I hardly enjoyed it because it’s too tiring,” he said, adding:
“The appointments just kept coming, one after another. There were times you’d wake up and you didn’t know the time or where you were.”
He said his successor should also be judicious in accepting invitations while finding a way to avoid displeasing those who were doing the inviting.
“I’m a person who likes his own quiet time to read books or play the guitar. But in the last year, I’ve only had time to try to finish reading one book,” Lim said.
He said the book was the 260-page “One Economics, Many Recipes,” which deals with globalization and was written by leading economist Dani Rodrik, his former teacher at Harvard University.
Interviewed on Radyo Inquirer 990AM on Saturday, Lim and Jaime Cura, vice president of the Tourism Congress, traded accusations that provided a hint of what had been ailing the tourism sector since last year.
Cura said Lim had “ignored and snubbed” the Tourism Congress, a private body created under the Tourism Act of 2009 to help the government formulate policies on tourism.
‘A bit insecure’
The congress’ members include representatives of national associations of tourism enterprises such as hotels and resorts, travel agencies, airlines and transportation.
But Lim denied this, saying: “I invited them to my consultations and they invited me to their meetings. But when I turn my back, they say something else. They’re a bit insecure.”
He reiterated that the criticisms were hurting his family: “Yes, it was a pressure, especially on my family.”
Lim said the problem was that some of the members had resented his decision to revise the congress’ internal rules and regulations (IRRs) or implementing guidelines.
He said the officers of the Tourism Congress were elected under the IRRs which he had wanted to revise. He said that of the 1,300-2,000 congress members, only about 50 were able to attend the first election.
“These people who are criticizing me, they are scared about losing their positions,” Lim said.
He said the problem with the IRRs had been there since the time of his predecessor, Ace Durano. “I only inherited the situation,” he said.
‘Aloof, not friendly’
But Cura said the problem was in Lim’s management style.
“He is not into consultation. He is aloof, snobbish. He is thorough and educated, but not friendly,” Cura said.
Cura accused Lim of siding with a travel agency that had questioned the IRRs of the Tourism Congress. “Lim listened to this small company at the risk of alienating the rest of us,” he said.
Cura said the congress was not pushing for a specific person to take over the DOT, just someone who could be “an inspirer, motivator and unifier” of the tourism industry.
Lim said, however, that he did not resign because of pressure from the Tourism Congress. “I have no regrets serving the Aquino administration. It was a big honor,” he said.
He added that he also made gains during this short stint at the DOT—the creation of over 400,000 jobs, the “pocket open skies” policy, and a national tourism development plan that he would turn over to his successor.
In the meantime, Lim said, he would take his family to Bohol for a vacation.
Give him time
Over radio dzRB, the President’s deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte said he should be given “a little bit more time” to choose Lim’s successor.
Valte said Malacañang was aware of the names being mentioned for the tourism portfolio, including ad executive Jimenez and former Akbayan Representative Risa Hontiveros.
“We are aware of the names floated but there is still nothing definite. At this point we really can’t say for sure until the President says that this will be Secretary Bertie’s successor,” Valte said.
“At this point, all of these are speculations,” she said. With a report from Norman Bordadora
First posted 12:07 am | Sunday, August 14th, 2011