Biz group opposes E. Visayas tourism chief’s transfer

TACLOBAN CITY—Members of the Leyte-Tacloban chapter of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) have appealed to Tourism Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo to reconsider her decision transferring the Department of Tourism (DOT) regional director in Eastern Visayas to the Zamboanga peninsula.

The PCCI chapter, in a Jan. 8 resolution, said the transfer of Karina Rosa Tiopes, DOT Eastern Visayas director, could stall the full recovery of the region’s tourism industry.

“This abrupt change in the leadership could stall the momentum of the private and public sector cooperation to fully restore the full potentials of tourism sites in Eastern Visayas,” the resolution said.

Tiopes, DOT chief in the region since 2005, was among 28 DOT officials who were reassigned, a move that Teo said was meant to avoid “too much familiarity” with their areas of assignment. —JOEY A. GABIETA AND NESTOR P. BURGOS JR.