Ted Aldwin Ong - Iloilo Metropolitan Times

Tourism Job Fair, but where are the jobs, workers?

Ted Aldwin Ong — Fri, 14 Apr 2023 16:00:00 +0000

We’ve heard of revenge travel at the height of the pandemic lockdown two years ago, and it promised better days for the badly hit tourism industry.

Fast-forward to the end of 2022. The Dept. of Tourism reported 2.6 million international arrivals, which translated to around P208 billion in revenues. These figures reflect the preliminary assessment of Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco that the tourism recovery is promising.

Since the reopening of borders and lifting of health restrictions last year, however, the quality of service in some of the primary and secondary tourism establishments has remained below par, as observed by many travelers. This is noticeable in the slow turnaround time at restos, dining places, and accommodations. It highlights the issue of a lack of workers during this critical period of recovery.

Last March 28, Dept. of Tourism (DOT-VI) regional director Crisanta Marlene P. Rodriguez and the Dept. of Labor and Employment (DOLE-VI) assistant regional director Atty. Dax B. Villaruel presented the regional leg of the Philippine Tourism Job Fair, “Turismo-Trabaho-Asenso”.

The job fair intends to “link workers adversely displaced during the height of the pandemic some two years ago, and considering employment opportunities in the recovering tourism industry.” The job fair offered 2,279 job openings from 40 employers, the majority of which were considered allied tourism services rather than primary and secondary tourism establishments, where workers are most needed at this time.

After the job fair, one of the tourism stakeholders quipped a comment to this writer, saying that DOT-VI needs a more substantial intervention if the agency is serious about addressing the employment gap. Further inquiry to various stakeholders reveals that many tourism establishment owners remain hesitant to hire workers because of a host of problems carried over from the pandemic, which range from needed additional capital down to labor and health issues.

Employment data was one of the questions I asked the two regional officials during the press conference, aiming to anchor the jobs fair as an initiative that responds to the employment needs of the tourism sector. Unfortunately, there was no data to show how many workers were displaced by the pandemic, if there is tracking on their transfers to other sectors, or if these workers are recoverable for reintegration into the tourism industry.

Western Visayas perhaps mirror the positive development as far as revenge travel is concerned. In January, DOT-VI shared the partial tourist arrivals for 2022, which showed a 109 percent increase, from 1,167,453 (2021) to 2,887,767 (2022), and a total receipt of P37.87 billion.

Behind the rosy numbers, however, are narratives by business owners that help explain why a lack of workers is a feature of the recovery period. The lack of personnel will keep on, said one resort owner, for we are still recovering from the loss of profits caused by the health crisis. Profits from current operations are being used to pay debts. Hiring new personnel is not a top priority at this time because we are trying to maintain low overhead and that includes labor cost.

In addition, establishment owners are taking careful steps when it comes to hiring new personnel, owing to the trauma caused by the messy retrenchments that displaced even the most valuable and loyal employees during the lockdown.

Business closures mean no profit and no money to pay salaries and benefits to employees. We lost around 90 percent of our employees because of that, said one resort owner, and we are operating now with family members and relatives as helpers. Hence, we have scaled down our operations, and that includes a manageable food menu because of the absence of a cook. We are struggling to recover, he added, and probably we will slowly hire additional helpers next year.

These are important narratives that may help explain why the low participation of tourism business owners at the job fair, which is not captured by the customary reporting of statistics by DOT-VI—those numbers that create the good news—breached annual target tourism arrivals, exceeded target receipts despite being the lowest funded agency of the national government, and so on.

This is not to say that statistics are not newsworthy; these are important numbers, yet they need a qualitative component. A report with a quantitative and qualitative dimension is not spoon-feeding, but it will help us develop a better appreciation of their work. It will also enrich the quality of reporting, for it will allow us to report on the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of its investments in programs like the Philippine Tourism Job Fair.

If the DOT is breaching targets despite the lack of workers at primary establishments on the ground, then what more if the right number of workers are in place? The disproportionate number of workers versus establishment capacity and demand results in inefficiency in the delivery of services at various levels, which affects the quality of the traveler’s experience.

Isn’t it true that travel is about gathering meaningful experiences? And quality of experience has become an important narrative for post-pandemic tourism. Insufficient reporting of DOT-VI creates an incomplete, if not artificial, picture of the regional tourism situation. The case of the lack of data in connection with the job fair and the issues brought out by tourism establishment owners in relation to tourism jobs demonstrate this point.

A successful tourism recovery program needs workers. But where are the jobs? Where are the workers?

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The damaging myth of nuclear energy as cheap power

Ted Aldwin Ong — Sun, 14 Aug 2022 16:00:00 +0000

The Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, one of the monuments of fraud under the Marcos, Sr. dictatorship that lies idle for 38 years now in Morong, Bataan, is alive again. Apparently, the BNPP is proof that the Marcoses have never left our political life despite ousted from power in 1986, and – as in the case of BNPP, mothballed because of safety and large scale corruption issues.

This is not the first time, however, that the BNPP is resurrected. It attempted to come alive with every new administration since 1992 and with every political lobbyist working actively in between to ensure it is preserved in the power development agenda.

Now that both have resurrected after decades of slumber (in disguise), large peddlers of myths using half-truths have marched on, especially among executives from the Dept. of Energy, Dept. of Science and Technology-Philippine Nuclear Research Institute together with the obstinate protagonists in Congress promising safe, clean, and cheap electricity. The voices for BNPP recommissioning have widened under the new administration and they have become assertive.

Believe me, reviving the BNPP is a useless effort and debating on it is a waste of saliva. Almost, if not all, researches done for the purpose of looking deeper into the possibility of operating it once and for all have pointed out the same unresolved issues – unsafe, expensive, not worth reinvesting. In fact, the BNPP complex is worth converting into a war games venue to become useful instead of running its power generation purpose.

Myth 1 – It’s cheaper to re-commission BNPP than to construct a new power plant. Baseless and outright stupidity. Just a year before the 2016 elections, two of my colleagues and I in the Center for Power Issues and Initiatives revisited the BNPP considering efforts of its revival. Our findings were published in a paper: “Bury It Deep: Disposing the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant” by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung-Philippine Office.

Our research validated claims why recommissioning the BNPP is nonsense apart from immoral. For instance, the conservative cost estimate to revive the BNPP was US$1 billion. The amount alone will make the BNPP one of the smallest but the most expensive nuclear plant with at least US$5.3 million per megawatt. This is far above expensive than new nuclear plants being developed, say in UK, at estimated cost of US$17 billion with a per megawatt cost of US$5 million.

The bid to rehabilitate the BNPP had then DoE under Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi commissioned a pre-feasibility study by Korean and Russian experts in 2017. The proposal from the Koreans was US$1 billion while the Russians from US$2 billion to US$3 billion.

The Marcos, Jr. regime must rather invest on additional power generation capacity using renewable energy sources than reviving the BNPP. The antiquated nuclear plant is good as a tourist attraction. One can count how many times they’ll bow their head while walking on its claustrophobic passage way going up to its control room like what I did when I toured the colossal monster of Morong years back.

Myth 2 – Nuclear power is clean. Yes, if you look at it from a single perspective, but that is not modern thinking, much less scientific. This is a claim that is similar to “clean coal” but the assertion that nuclear is clean as far as carbon dioxide emissions is concerned is false considering that the value chain of Uranium as fuel is toxic pollution at every step. Fossil fuel is mobilized to mine, mill, and process Uranium in a tiny volume similar to the amount of ink stored in the ink chamber of the ball pen or even less.

In addition, the International Panel on Climate Change highlighted in a 2014 report that nuclear energy is not contributing to the lowering of carbon dioxide emissions despite being considered a source of “mature low greenhouse gas emissions” because of other contributing risks like operational risk and associated concerns, Uranium mining risks, financial and regulatory risks and unresolved waste management issues.

The unresolved waste management issues is the biggest, if not the single most important point, why nuclear power is not clean. According to DOST-PNRI Director Carlo Arcilla, nuclear power has been with us for almost 60 years without carbon emissions, but by downgrading the radioactive nuclear waste that remains stored by power generators considering that there is no place on earth where these wastes can be disposed.

Hence, bury the nuclear waste deep, but where? The cost of waste storage will flow in as passed on cost on your electricity bill. I bet on that.

Myth 3 – BNPP is technically sound and remains as the most modern. Garbage! The BNPP was completed without all the required clearances, it has 4,000 construction defects, and poorly preserved for more than 30 years because of budget constraints by the government.

The smell of its insides alone is like an old dying cabinet. Its sad state give credence to the findings of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that the BNPP has “high uncertainty of functionality” and which also runs consistent with Russian Ambassador Igor Khovaev when he was quoted saying that the BNPP was “absolutely outdated” in a CNN interview in 2018, but which was brushed aside by experts from Russian Nuclear firm Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corp. that the ambassador only made a mistake.

From the outset, the BNPP was marred by safety issues from inadequate seismic tests to lack of safeguards, and so on. This prompted the Marcos dictatorship to commission a three-man team to look into it, then Philippine Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) also examined safety issues, and the IAEA went on a mission to scrutinize it. The result was a re-negotiation of contract for additional safeguards from its favored contractor the Westinghouse bringing the cost of the single reactor plant to US$1.8-billion from the original base price of US$500 million for two 620-MW reactor (June 1973) going higher to US$695 million in just four months, and to US$1.1 billion when the contract was signed (February 1976).

Until today the BNPP remains under preservation by the government and with engineers assigned to dust off the facility at P40 million to P50 million a year since 1986. The National Power Corp. who is in charge of its maintenance and preservation has in fact proposed a 76.92 percent budget increase for 2021 at P92 million.

This is not enough. An estimated P72 billion of taxpayer’s money were paid by the Philippine government to US Export Import Bank from 1986 to 2007, which means that the BNPP has been fully paid despite not generating a single kilowatt of electricity. Cheap nuclear power? An electrifying myth.

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Biking has transformed Iloilo’s landscape for the better

Ted Aldwin Ong — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 16:00:00 +0000

An enjoyable virtual conversation transpired last Saturday afternoon when I joined bike advocate, award-winning writer and UPV Math Prof. Early Sol Gadong as a guest in the program Gametime: A Sports Podcast hosted by Ruding Villaruz and Christian Jun Jagorin.

It was fun because of its open and spontaneous conversation format. I only learned, albeit belatedly, that we were in a maiden episode, and biking and the Iloilo bike culture was an introductory topic. Nevertheless, biking is a popular topic in the last 5 years and this was further intensified by the pandemic lockdown becoming a hot subject matter today.

The 1.5 hours convo appeared short yet the hosts was able to cover various facets of biking using a mix of questions ranging from off-the-wall, which elicited laughte, to serious, and even technical. I consider biking as an interesting issue of our time for it intersects with many issues. Biking has become a serious matter for the Ilonggos and this is signified by the volume of day-to-day topics that are being brought to social media groups by bikers.

A text, photo or video posted at 7am serves as a good trigger for passionate exchanges all throughout the day demonstrated by catchy sarcastic phrases to educational, legal, technical and streets smart practical opinions. If you have visited the group Iloilo-Bike Lanes are for Bicycles then you will agree with me that bikers wake-up in the morning or go to sleep at night with an information to share, a finding to warn bikers of dangers on the road, or an analysis worth asserting.

I tell you, biking has occupied its own space in the Ilonggo psyche side-by-side with the enduring popularity and reputation established by other elements that energizes Ilonggo culture like food, heritage sites, art and tourism. The lockdowns and eventually long Covid has fortified the biking sector in Iloilo.

Gametime hosts asked if biking has changed the landscape of Iloilo. The simple answer is – yes. It brought multi-dimensional changes in this part of the world. I accounted some of the changes that I have gathered from my own observation.

Biking transformed Iloilo’s physical landscape. The integration of an elevated and protected bike lane in the road widening of the Sen. Benigno Aquino, Sr. Avenue begun the decade long process of enhancing Iloilo’s bike culture. This is not say though that there were no bikers before that, but the infra brought biking to centerstage and its served as an element for multi-sectoral unification. Individual bikers joined by another one or two forming a group and eventually it shaped a collective circle

I find this case similar to what many call “you build and they will come” – not a bad concept if gleaned from the success shared by Noah in the Bible story or from the film Field of Dreams, which starred Kevin Costner. But infrastructures transformed the landscape of Iloilo. While the constructed bike lane underwent a period of under-utilization, it later on activated engagements which pushed the process of development and generated an interplay of input between the local government and various stakeholders.

Today, the changing landscape continues and these are manifested with the bikeability of Esplanade three to 10; existing roads were integrated with bike lanes; significant spots were linked up by a bike lane like the University Loop; plazas, parks, malls and townships. Furthermore, apart from roads, bike lanes will connect towns as DPWH have reported that all road widening projects and new road constructions are now designed to be pedestrian and biker-friendly with sidewalks and designated bike lane. One such project is the Sunset Boulevard from Mandurriao to Oton.

One of the formidable evidence that biking has transformed Iloilo’s physical landscape is the growing population of bikers and bike groups. Go out to see for yourself every morning, afternoon, evening and weekends.

Biking transformed the local economy. Biking is now a multi-million business industry. Most bikers can tell that bike enterprises is one of the most thriving business in Iloilo. What used to be a small bike store 10 to 15 years ago has now expanded and with an improved product line and services. Tiny road side tire vulcanizing shops now sell parts and offer repairs. Bike washing, an unimaginable service provision, is now made available. Bike shops and cafés are scattered in populous urban district and in isolated dirt road areas, but still accessed by bikers and it grows through social media posts. The flourishing surplus bike selling, bike rentals, bike assembly, accessories, safety gears, maintenance and post sales services reveal that there is an active bike economy in Iloilo.

Bikers are increasingly acknowledged as a dominant driver of the local economy and this made evident by provisions for bike parking, bike racks for safety and security, and other services which shows that a bike enterprise is a niche in the local economy.

Biking transformed politics and governance. New policies, ordinances and regulations indicate that biking is reshaping our policy environment; it stimulates good governance; and its forms biking and sustainable mobility champions among legislators and chief executives.

We are aware that resources give life to policies in order to be implemented and rules enforced. Iloilo City alone has numerous policies and ordinances that were passed in support of bike culture and the LGU has invested both on hard and soft projects for the sustained development of the biking sector. The prioritization is far from being perfect but the essential element is already in place.

The biking sector is a social movement. The sector is composed of advocates who are competent on mobility, road safety, road user literacy, climate change, and sustainable development. The biking sector is an opulent collection of professionals who are dispersed in the field of academics, arts and cultural, legal and the judiciary, urban and environmental planning, and women and human rights, among others.

The bikers is a social movement that cannot be disregarded or can be manipulated by means of legal or socio-technical tools used for systematic marginalization. This is a sector with a dominant middle class population who are educated, independent-minded, and who holds individual resources in society.

The biking sector is not a marginalized sector of our society. This is a sector with an intersectional character as a movement and it possess the natural disposition to unite and push for its collective agenda. The pandemic has momentarily delayed or suspended its progress, but it has stirred Iloilo for the better. The energy that will bring more changes will be unleashed by the bike sector once the pandemic is normalized.

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Metro Juanderer emerges in a hybridized era

Ted Aldwin Ong — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 16:00:00 +0000

It is astonishing to think of releasing a print magazine in a digital era and within the period of a persistent health crisis. Yet for the more adventurous entrepreneurs, a brutal crisis like the Covid-19 pandemic, can inspire new risks. This is how I translate the entry of Metro Juanderer magazine in the market.

The business and tourism magazine comes out in a period of time where print media is bleeding from impacts of the new media platforms. Print media has been suffering from a steady decline of readership ahead of social media mainstreaming.

In a 2017 Media Ownership Monitor report, medialandscapes.org pointed out that ‘newspapers [are losing] their relevance as a source of information” among Filipinos, a trend that holds sway since 2013 from survey results.

Majority of Filipinos or 55 percent ‘prefer to watch news online rather than read,’ shared Media Landscapes using a Newman, et al. 2020 study. It highlighted that only 22 percent of Filipinos get news from newspapers.

In a 2013 data, the Philippine Statistics Authority shared a seven year trend which showed that ‘barely one in 10 Filipinos read newspapers everyday.’

While magazine readership is said to enjoy a slightly higher percentage of readership, it doesn’t change the fact that readership of print media materials in general has started to dive down 14 years ahead of Covid-19 or 15 years preceding the introduction of Metro Juanderer to the market.

The global trend could not be far behind and the dire situation that hovered over the print media for most of the past decade was clutched by Covid-19 resulting in the cruel death of many print media outlets and which displaced journalists and media workers.

However, it is not all bad news for print media as far as survival is concerned. Metro Juanderer, in spite of my lack of full understanding of its vision and the wisdom behind its publisher’s motivation, offers a local case sample of an emerging global trend triggered by Covid-19 which “re-introduces past technology” for the present generation to rediscover and appreciate – reading and the print media.

Metro Juanderer is here to re-educate today’s news consumers. The decline of readership is rooted on the level of literacy of its consumers and of the populace in general.

No less than social media has effectively shown that society is not only perpetually divided into classes, but that it is also divided in terms of educational level; wherein the educated can spread mass idiocy and that an idiot can make things sound intellectually convincing.

The interplay in social media is so real, it can blur the demarcation line that separates what is right from what is wrong; from what is accurate information from misinformation. As such, re-education using print media is key to kick-off the effort of bringing up the level of literacy of news consumers even in the business and tourism sector whose inability to share accurate, timely, and reliable information was exposed by the pandemic.

Print media enterprises has to squarely face the reality – ‘people with lower levels of education are more likely to want to watch online news compared with the better educated’ (Newman et al., 2020) and this news consumption pattern is displayed across 40 countries, including the Philippines, as shared by Digital News Report 2020.

It underscored that “in the case of the Philippines, one of the influential factors could be ‘educational deprivation’ – the strong preference for online news over print news can be explained by the fact that the majority of Filipino families lack even basic education, citing the PSA as reported by BusinessMirror in 2018.

Print media’s enduring role is to educate and Metro Juanderer carries a mission to re-introduce reading to its target audience at a dismal cost of P100 a copy.

Perhaps this is the reason why the magazine has commissioned journalists, writers and bloggers with journalism backgrounds – media persons who possess the integrity and experience to come up with educational and informative articles that adhere to journalism standards and ethics.

Metro Juanderer enters a hybridized era. Print alone, however, will not make a magazine survive in a digital era. It must go hybrid, meaning accessible both in print and in digital versions, in order to seize the moment of change in consumer behavior, market modifications and social transformations brought by technological solutions as a consequence of the pandemic.

Datareportal.com reported that the Philippines has 73.91 million internet users with internet penetration rate at 67.0 percent as of January 2021. The pandemic has brought more Filipino to the internet with a 4.2 million (+6.1%) increase of users from 2020 to 2021.

Social media remains the platform where news distribution is concentrated. In the same report it revealed that social media users in the Philippines increased by 16 million between the pandemic year 2020 and 2021. As of January 2021, the Philippines has 89.00 million social media users or now equivalent to 80.7 percent of the country’s total population.

Social media is a platform to spread quality and accurate news information, to level the playing field of news information, and to overcome the dominance of information materials of abject journalistic quality, low educational value, and those that are promoted using misinformation or disinformation in the online market through social media.

Print media’s presence is essential online, not only for marketing and advertising purposes, but to fulfill its mission of public education. Going hybrid is not just for the survival of print news enterprises, rather it is a natural market function necessitated by the times.

The pandemic and the risks that it brought to the media industry only ripened the entry of Metro Juanderer to the market. May it serve as an instrument for readers to appreciate tourist destinations and to rediscover the beauty and function of a print magazine.

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UP Visayas unveils media excellence awards to promote democracy

Ted Aldwin Ong — Sun, 28 Mar 2021 16:00:00 +0000

The University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) unveiled BANTALA: The UPV Media Excellence Awards (UPVMEA), March 25, 2021 at the UPV Little Theater in Iloilo City campus.

The UPVMEA, organized by the Office of the Chancellor, aims to strengthen democracy by way of recognizing stellar journalism among media practitioners, bloggers, writers, and various content creators in the Western Visayas region.

The awards title selected the popular Hiligaynon term ‘bantala’ for it encapsulates the communications practice by media practitioners which is to announce, to notify, to advise, to inform, to broadcast, or to publish news.

“The precise delivery of information is a form of democracy,” broadcasted Dr. Zoilo Andrada, Jr. from the podium during the presentation program and he emphasized that journalists, as the front liners in combatting disinformation, have a lot of stories to tell. Stories that sometimes put their lives at stake.”

“Despite the risks, stories get across to the readers and listeners, because the best story-tellers are the journalists,” announced Dr. Andrada, Jr., who is the assistant for Project Development for Mass Media and Communications under the Office of the Chancellor.

The UPVMEA highlights “stellar journalism” as the foundation of BANTALA to motivate media practitioners to exercise excellence in reporting as exemplified by the brilliant practice set by West Visayan journalists like Don Rosendo Mejica, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Russel Tordesillas, Flavio Zaragoza Cano, and Conrado Norada.

BANTALA aspires to promote genuine democracy

The BANTALA is another ground-breaking initiative of the University of the Philippines Visayas under the leadership of Dr. Clement C. Camposano, who assumed as the 11th Chancellor of UP Visayas in November 1, 2020.

The awards program is outlined under the 5-point agenda of Dr. Camposano and its concept was developed by the Office of the Chancellor, Project Development for Mass Media and Communications.

The awards program hopes to professionalize the media practitioners in Western Visayas as it aspires to contribute in strengthening democracy. It recognizes the prevailing weaponization of the internet and social media resulting in intensified misinformation and disinformation, which includes efforts to discredit journalists and other forms of attacks against media practitioners in the age of social media.

“Our society is now flooded with user-generated content,” advised Dr. Camposano, and the media now faced the challenges like the spread of misinformation and disinformation; hence, we can no longer determine what is factual from what is not.

Today, the media landscape has become “more complex” and media practitioners have a more crucial role to play, shared Dr. Camposano, and he underscored his observation that the watchdog function of the media has become “more salient.”

The times are changing and with these challenges in mind, the holding of the media awards program would bring together both the university and the media to tackle and engage with each other on these complex issues,” declared Dr. Camposano.

“The UPVMEA is only a starting point of a more intensive university program that plans to help professionalize Western Visayas media practitioners, conveyed Dr. Andrada, Jr.

The BANTALA:UPVMEA is a community engagement designed to serve as a stage to evaluate and to recognize the covering, writing, reporting, and publishing of news stories and events on different media platforms. “It is an outreach program by the university which this time focuses on regional media,” notified by the Chancellor during the Q&A with a small group of media practitioners and bloggers in compliance to health protocols.

In attendance were bloggers and Iloilo and Boracay-based journalists from online, radio, and print media.

UPVMEA’s focuses on 4 thematic challenges

BANTALA: UPVMEA has adopted the theme, “Medya: Kaupod sang Rehiyon sa Pagtib-ong sang Tunay nga Demokrasya” or Media: A Regional Partner in Promoting Genuine Democracy.

“It will be an all-inclusive awards process,” said Dr. Camposano, as such; it will welcome entries from different platforms, including radio block timers and content creators of the new generation.

The organizing committee of UPVMEA is still developing mechanics and other components required for the awarding. It will be released as they come available. One thing is certain, however, the awards will be open to materials produced in English, Hiligaynon, Kinaray-a, and Aklanon language.

The BANTALA: UPVMEA presented some technical considerations like categories of the participants and thematic topics. It will be open to two categories. Category A will comprise entries from newspapers and radio, while Category B will cover blogs, social media campaigns and advocacy, and news portals.

The awards program will encourage entries that focus on the following themes:

Deepening participatory democracy
Protecting human rights and fighting corruption
Fighting disinformation
Addressing various forms of marginalization

The entries will be judged according to how the material produced measured up to the thematic topics.

The search period will start from April 2021 and it will run until January 2022. The deadline for the submission of entries will be on January 31, 2022, and the final awarding will be in February 2022. For additional information, visit the website of UP Visayas at https://www.upv.edu.ph/ or its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/U.P.Visayas.Official

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Regulatory nightmare: Tough times for customers of Iloilo dining places

Ted Aldwin Ong — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 16:00:00 +0000

A well-endeared among seasoned politicians and corporate executives; a veteran and respected senior journalist in Iloilo media circle, Florence Hibionada made a quick post over her Facebook timeline with a set of photos that showed proof of lapses regarding sanitation protocols from a dining occasion at the Courtyard by Marriott Iloilo.

The complaint post was already taken down by Florence, as we commonly call her, after the Courtyard by Marriot Iloilo responded on the social media post with lightning speed. The crisis comms response averted a negative PR from going viral and it earned an admiration from Florence. She declared: “Customer Service as Public Service, redefined” in a follow through posting.

The event can now be described as a “water under the bridge” but I took extra interest on the issue (or nonissue for that matter), for I have a similar experience, if not an exactly the same thing, at the Courtyard by Marriott Iloilo few months back. Unlike Florence, I failed to make a post, but I wish to emphasize that the unfortunate-turned-praiseworthy PR case is not an isolated incident. Thanks to Florence for highlighting it.

To move forward, however, the upscale hotel brand is not alone. Similar lapses or failures in observing standard sanitation protocols and procedures is happening in almost all dining places in the city – big and small – and with some exceptions of course. These lapses like a neglected hand markings left at plastic or fiberglass table mounted barriers, water dirt tainted plates, dried-up water stains on spoons, forks and drinking glasses, and non-disinfected dining tables after every use is prevalent.

Old pre-pandemic practices have prevailed and most infection prevention and control protocols were merely an exercise of compliance considering the low-level disinfection procedure that they follow.

Dining is a regulation nightmare. After the major lockdown last year, a risk comms classmate abroad urged me to observe prevailing health and sanitation practices in order to understand the new regulation regime that is demanded by the pandemic on dining places.

“If we want to learn what is the predominant weakness of our health protocol system today, and how to improve it, then we must visit hotels and restos,” she said.

Hotels and restos are highly-controllable environment as such infection prevention and control can be applied efficiently. Most of these establishments have a standard operating procedure (SOP) through a manual which outline a detailed step-by-step process for workers to follow. Those who are aware of this SOP prefers to dine on a hotel café or restos to they know that it is safe and secure.

There is a resto at the Boardwalk beside Esplanade 1 with an excellent health procedure and a clean restroom that you can even sleep on. Yet there are plenty of cases regarding lapses to health protocols. Let me illustrate the usual scenario in a summary.

You go into a resto and approach a table that has been used by a customer ahead of you. The table is uncleaned and you request a waiter to clean the table. A person will clean it the old normal way, some uses a disinfection agent while others do not. They likewise does not disinfect the entire space that is about to be occupied. Cleaning a table is enough practice.

Table barriers? Plates and dining utensils? These items are all exposed and brought to you without a packing to convey that the utensils that you are about to use has underwent a sanitation preparation stage. If you have a disposable cleansing wipes, you better wipe it yourself so that you’ll feel extra secure.

In addition, you don’t see food servers disinfect their hands before serving you the food. And they serve numerous dining guests on neighboring tables that way. This is common even among restos who are believed to be high-end at the Iloilo Business Park.

Moreover, restrooms are not disinfected from each every other use. One can tell not only from an experience, but also by visually inspecting the CR facility before using it. Urine droppings on the urinal and on the floor – instances like this also applies to the Courtyard by Marriott Iloilo.

It is time to ask: Does the health office of the Iloilo City Government regularly examine the standard sanitation procedures being implemented by these establishments? Is this a regulatory duty of the Dept. of Health or by an accrediting agency like the Dept. of Tourism? If not, then they must exercise that responsibility for the permits and certificates that they issue to an establishment legitimizes procedures that are not observed.

Dysfunctional self-regulation. A regulatory nightmare is a by-product of a dysfunctional self-regulation system – an internal regulatory system that is determined by a hotel or a resto; by its management or by its owners; by its workers or by its workers unions; or by its associations or its accreditors.

The Coronavirus has been blamed by both government and private sector saying that the pandemic has overwhelmed its capacity to implement regulation policies that ensure public safety. But there is another layer of regulation and that is self-regulation.

Self-regulation is an internal culture of cleanliness in the workspace – a type of cleanliness that is second nature to a company engaged in food business. It is integrated in the system of operations so that it will be internalized by the personnel and institutionalized by them through a day-to-day implementation as part of quality service standard.

Lapses on sanitation as showed by markings on table barriers alone are physical evidence of poor self-regulation system. It reveals a violation on the sanitation and food safety standard operating procedure manual either of a hotel or a resto or guidelines by government.

An overlooked concept, self-regulation holds the key to rite of passage for dining places within the period of a pandemic transition. It gives them the ability to adapt, move forward, and survive under a regulatory regime overwhelmed by overlapping policies, incompetence, and other pandemic-imposed constraints.

The pandemic-era demands an insanely systematic application of cleanliness. Dining places needs to communicate a plethora of regulatory policy compliance to earn public trust, but mind you, these are not even enough to convince a cynical public. It needs to convey effective self-regulation practices for these are easily relatable to the public by way of consistent action to secure public confidence.

Poor health and sanitation standard = confidence deficit = low public trust. We know what are the implications of this equation to business and to a recuperating local economy.

The post Regulatory nightmare: Tough times for customers of Iloilo dining places first appeared on Iloilo Metropolitan Times.

Dinagyang Digital’s triumphant show a boon to local economy

Ted Aldwin Ong — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 16:00:00 +0000

Dinagyang Digital’s triumphant show in Iloilo City stymied murmurs of disapproval of its staging because of the pandemic. The effort-intensive experimentation exceeded public expectation and the creative work that propelled innovation for a digital presentation earned a rightful applaud.

Dinagyang Digital 2021 earned a patina of prestige from technical people, tourism officers from different local governments, festival organizers, and among global citizens. The pre-filmed Dinagyang tribes performance showed that Coronavirus does not preclude the spirit of organizing a festival. It also highlighted that local festivals are not badly stuck in the pandemic mud.

Triumphant as it may have appeared though, the Dinagyang Digital 2021 was pulled off with an estimated one fifth slice of its usual budget. The conventional Dinagyang Festival organizing demands at least P50-million and the pandemic have made that figure quite a feat to raise for Iloilo Festivals Foundation, Inc. (IFFI).

However, the holding of the digital Dinagyang was a significant morale booster to local economy considering the heavy blow that the pandemic have caused on the city’s festival tourism sector last year. Some feedbacks from key community leaders have revealed the interplay of monetary and non-monetary value derived from a pandemic-aligned Dinagyang Festival programming.

The Dinagyang digital crystallized the future of festivals, but economic value is difficult to measure. The Dinagyang have showed how the pandemic have brought festivals to a digital era. And since it is filmed, we can only imagine how fast it will evolve at each and every episode. The Dinagyang will for sure become a product of constant innovation for as long as the pandemic persist on.

While festivals serve as a means to revitalize the economy; interestingly, the economic value that can be derived from a pandemic-era festival like the recent Dinagyang is a challenge.

To illustrate this point, the pre-pandemic Dinagyang Festival attracts hundreds of thousands of tourist and visitors to Iloilo City. Tourist receipts are in billions of pesos. The more than 5,000 hotel rooms that are usually fully booked days before weekend highlight can help show its economic value, not to mention the party spending and other peripheral expenses by travelers and tourists.

ALSO READ: Iloilo Dinagyang Digital Festival made Ilonggos proud

For this year, however, Dinagyang Digital did not earn the same level of budget allocation unlike what the conventional Dinagyang accepts from the contributions of the local government, provincial government, regional offices of national government agencies, and the private sector, which may include sponsorships.

It was not a different Dinagyang for no reason. The current condition demanded for its rearrangement. By far, the budget was commensurate on the required expenses, but sooner than later, organizers of similar events will be able to measure its monetary contribution to local economy.

Dinagyang is still a boon to local economy, because monetary impact is not overnight. Reviving festival tourism and the local economy, however, is not solely dependent on monetary infusion. It also requires non-monetary input and social capital, and Dinagyang Digital 2021 have demonstrated that.

The success of Dinagyang Digital shows that Ilonggos always take problems such as COVID-19 as opportunities,” shared Francis E. Gentoral, executive director of the Iloilo Economic Development Foundation, Inc. (ILEDF). Gentoral emphasized a good point when he said that the ability to think and act creatively is one important human quality that investors look into in an area. Iloilo never failed to show these qualities to investors.

The Dinagyang digital also provides platform to reach a bigger and wider market for Iloilo’s industries. We need to take advantage of the Dinagyang digital dividends, Gentoral said.

On the other hand, Lea Lara, the executive director of the Iloilo Business Club (IBC) also pointed out the difficulty to measure economic value at this time. It was easier to measure before by way of indicators like tourist spending, occupancy rate of hotels and accommodations, or even foot traffic, she said.

Yet Lara butted a good point when she shared that this year’s Dinagyang is a business case on how festivals can transition. Its economic value may also manifest even on netizens’ comments that they are interested to visit Iloilo.

ALSO READ: Dinagyang Festival 2021 and the business of crowds

Lawyer and business leader Jobert Peñaflorida, president of IFFI, somehow summarized a host of benefits derived from Dinagyang Digital 2021. He said, the festival has a significant impact to the Ilonggos, not only in terms of economics, but more importantly, in terms of providing a renewed sense of optimism.

Despite the pandemic, the festival offered a reason to be hopeful, said by the person of the hour.

Dinagyang Digital’s economic value can also be gleaned on the livelihood activities that it facilitated to many struggling artists who have been out of projects for the last 10-months. It has likewise given jobs to videographers, writers, event organizers and many other volunteers, he pointed out.

Morever, Peñaflorida expounded that the Dinagyang trade fairs have provided a venue for our micro, small and medium entrepreneurs (MSMEs) to showcase their products and to earn some minimal income. Same goes to aspiring entrepreneurs who were able to sell their food and other delicacies.

To a limited extent, it has encouraged some economic activities with the support of government agencies like the Dept. of Trade and Industry, Dept. of Agriculture, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and the Provincial and City Governments, he added.

Mounting the Dinagyang Digital 2021 festival with so many challenges and restrictions brought out the best in the Ilonggo spirit, said Peñaflorida.

Indeed, measuring the economic value of the triumphant Dinagyang Digital 2021 could not be oversimplified by way of instant monetary returns. Festivals, digital or otherwise, offers an encompassing impact with its monetary and non-monetary value combined.

Its impact can be described this way: 1.) Economic – by way of jobs provision and livelihood; 2.) Tourism – it increased awareness about Iloilo even in the period of the pandemic; 3.) Social and cultural – it strengthened local values and tradition; and 4.) Psychological – it increased local pride and community spirit – the pride of place.

The multiple impact delivered by Dinagyang Digital 2021 may not be as pronounced to the naked eye, but all four impacts put together is a boon to the local economy.

The post Dinagyang Digital’s triumphant show a boon to local economy first appeared on Iloilo Metropolitan Times.

[Opinion] Iloilo’s flea market culture is perking up but it reflects an artificial state of MSMEs

Ted Aldwin Ong — Sun, 04 Oct 2020 16:00:00 +0000

Stepping inside the Iloilo Convention Center on the last day of the second run of Mercado Iloilo Weekend Market last September 20 offered a reverberating energy with food, plants, gardening materials, home items, clothes, and even automobile on display for sale.

The volume of people inside the convention center whose ground floor was transformed into an indoor flea market spelled economic revival. Upbeat music amplified conversations and laughter at every corner. It was an atmosphere that Iloilo City needed as the economy is undergoing resuscitation.

The Ilonggos adores a festive set-up as such they went out days after the usual payday to check the wide spread selection of consumable goods; rub elbows with the hip Gen Z entreps, and to blend in intelligent conversations with coronapreneurs who have now transcended amelioration deficit issues.

Outside the hall was a dog’s day out, a person’s treasured best friend, especially during the lockdown. Dogs were instrumental in keeping the human sanity intact, said a dog owning friend, who also intimated that they were adaptive with the pandemic than humans. The dog event was an interesting exhibit of the best and the most pricey breed. Carrying one on leash was equivalent to driving either a Porsche, a Lamborghini, a Hummer, or a Mini – different sizes, distinctive cost.

Iloilo Convention Center as a venue sets a new standard in weekend fairs: space-wise comfortable and airconditioned; convenient for health protocol regulation; great for crowd control management with nightclub bouncers to open and close doors; and with brilliant interior intervention to put ‘behind curtains’ rough sections of an unfinished ICC hall.

Events like Mercado Iloilo Weekend Market demonstrates the thriving flea market culture generally driven by middle to upper class MSME brands intermingling with big corporate trademarks. It is interesting to note, however, if these flea market events reflect the general situation of our MSMEs sector within the context of an ongoing pandemic.

It cannot be denied that micro, small to medium enterprises plays a crucial role in local economy recovery. The challenges that were confronted by many of our MSMEs before the pandemic, however, have tripled with the health crisis. Hence, there are some who are enduring while others are dying.

MSMEs are under-supported and under-funded. Informal conversation with some entrepreneurs on the sideline during the weekend market event have revealed that they are oblivious of the economic recovery direction of the local government, and of the government in general. Their sentiments ranges from low support from government (LGU), lack participation in the economic recovery planning, and no access that will link them to stimulus subsidies.

The situation is aptly described by one as “kanya-kanyang kayod” or to each his own. You need to move by yourself by searching for events that will permit you to sell your products that were confined on stocking since the lockdown in order to earn an income.

Even here in Mercado, “pa bwenas-bwenas” or it depends on luck. Fortunately, the last day of the 3-day weekend market yielded positive income on him, he disclosed.

Similar flea market events and food fairs were also on the calendar but were unluckily postponed because of continuously rising Covid-19 cases in the city. Mayor Jerry Trenas placed numerous barangays on a community level surgical lockdown late September to contain the spread of the virus.

The regularity of flea market events in the city appears to perk up the local economy. The issues raised by some small business owners begs an answer: is there a strategy that holds the economic recovery effort together?

Catching up with digitization. Most MSMEs, especially the ones whose workplaces are in far-flung municipalities, are catching up with digitization. The pandemic was a blessing in disguise to many as far as going digital is concerned for it allowed them to explore social media marketing through Facebook.

But reality revealed that the digitization process is slow. Countless MSMEs are struggling to bring their enterprises to the online platform as a result of lack of technical know-how to operate mobile devices. Many are unfamiliar with the use of applications that were developed to make business easy and convenient, including the use of digital payment wallets.

There were others who were adaptive with digital technology early on, yet, they too, have found themselves at the crossroads because of internet traffic highlighting the country’s snail-paced connectivity.

Moreover, numerous MSMEs needs technical training and additional capital to generate devices that will allow them to integrate digitization into their respective system.

But MSMEs are triggers for economic revival. MSMEs are viewed as effective triggers that can buoy the local economy to a post-pandemic trajectory. This view, however, must be extended beyond the myopia.

First, MSMEs are “Davids” who are facing a Goliath in the fight against economic crisis. Its small size may not be all that is needed, yet it carries the essential advantage for the economy to survive. Small size business is not bad when in crisis situations for it is flexible and handy, operations controllable, and overheard cost, including labor, is manageable.

Second, unlike big business wherein profit is anchored on economy of scale, MSMEs are small-scaled. Hence, its production system is not driven by demands of large conglomerates. Small business possess an absorptive capacity for shocks, as such, it has an ability to gradually rebound given adequate support services.

Lastly, and perhaps more importantly, MSMEs flourish in an ecosystem driven by medium, to small, and retail demand. This is the business environment which can incubate economic revival, because retail means cash-based transaction – small amount as it may seem, but it allows cash to circulate.

Our MSMEs holds a natural ability to move the wheels of the local economy. This is not the time to neglect and further marginalize our small enterprises. They play a vital role in the revival of our economy. The government is on the wrong side not to support them.

The post [Opinion] Iloilo’s flea market culture is perking up but it reflects an artificial state of MSMEs first appeared on Iloilo Metropolitan Times.

[OPINION] Ilonggos are wooed to travel closer-to-home yet ambiguities abound

Ted Aldwin Ong — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 16:00:00 +0000

This year, Panay Island made a pioneered entry in Tripadvisor’s Top 25 Popular Tourist Destination in Asia. The 20th spot that it earned served as a breather for Panay whose tourism sector is struggling to slowly stand up from months of knock out as a result of multiple blows delivered by the Coronavirus.

Tourism regional director Helen J. Catalbas appreciated the recognition saying that the Travelers’ Choice Award by Tripadvisor was attained through the cooperation and collaboration of various tourism stakeholders during an online guesting with the Iloilo Metropolitan Times.

The program host Rhod Tecson asked: Can Panay Island sustain the title amid the pandemic? Expectedly, the regional director sounded optimistic of the prospect of a sustained recognition by encouraging the Ilonggos to start traveling within their respective localities while observing quarantine protocols.

I picked up three major points from the discussion of Director Catalbas. First, travel by locals within their provinces or municipalities or what I call closer-to-home travel is a valuable trigger for tourism under the new normal; second, farm tourism sites are now the premium destination; and third, tourism revitalization requires that LGUs take an active role by providing essential support.

Closer-to-home travel. I agree with Director Catalbas that most locals have yet to fully explore the tourism gems within their localities. Many health advocates are likewise open on the idea of closer-to-home vacations as a necessary respite from months of home confinement because of sporadic quarantine restrictions.

According to Director Catalbas, if one percent of Western Visayas’ 8-million population will be travelling within local destination, it will enable a gradual revival of tourism activities. It can also usher in a resumption of tourism livelihood activities and reactivate vital tourism enterprises.

Closer-to-home destinations are fairly low risk for these are relatively uncrowded sites. But local travelers have to be mindful of the periodic changes of quarantine procedures following policy issuances by the National Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases and with supplementary executive orders by the LGUs through the Local Chief Executives (LCEs) or the Mayor.

It is difficult, however, for local travelers to keep up with the nuances in the policies like what it meant when a city or municipality is placed under the ECQ, GCQ, or MGCQ. Which among the three categories allows a traveler to go places and which one tells you that you cannot. This is an ambiguity which discourages a local traveler to move from place to place, especially if the traveler is an OFW returnee who has underwent testing, who holds a negative result, and who completed a 14-day quarantine .

This ambiguity is further compounded by a weak information flow and the lack of tourism focused advisory for travelers from the end of DOT-VI. In particular, travelers have to make a surgical search among LGUs online site or social media accounts when a municipality or a barangay with a tourism site is placed on a lockdown. These information are not readily available on DOT-VI’s Facebook page.

Region VI is composed of 4,000+ barangays, 16 cities, and 117 municipalities. Keeping up with the latest local situation and staying informed about varying policies is a real challenge for a local traveler. The ambiguities requires an intervention from the tourism agency so that uncertainties are narrowed down and local travelers can move with ease in spite of the pandemic.

Farm tourism spots. Farm tourism sites are ultimate attraction under the period of the pandemic for these are safe spots who holds a natural adaptive characteristic for health protocols. Physical distancing is easy to enforce with its wide open spaces; one sit apart dining is not a problem; its outdoor setting is splendid for ventilation; and food are nutritious and healthy for these are mostly farm-to-table.

Farm tourism sites are perfect for local visitors for these are family-oriented venues as described by Director Catalbas. It goes without saying, however, that it is not easier to travel to a farm tourism spot in a neighboring municipality. Even for just a day trip, a local traveler needs to examine the prevailing quarantine category imposed by the IATF on the town and barangay to be informed of the health standards being enforced.

These intermittent changes in quarantine categories is another ambiguity which reveals DOT-VI’s lack the communication strategy. Iloilo City, for instance, has returned to a Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) category starting Sept. 1. Does this mean that Iloilo City residents can now visit farm tourism sites? The answer is yes and no – yes, for those between 21 to 59 years old and no if you happen to fall under Section 5 of IATF’s Omnibus Guidelines on the Implementation of Community Quarantine.

Section 5 (No. 3) emphasized that “any person below twenty-one (21) years old, those who are sixty (60) years old and above, those with immunodeficiency, comorbidity, or other health risks, and pregnant women shall be required to remain in their residences at all times.”

The nuanced policies can send a confusing stop-go signs to would be local travelers. On one hand, the tourism office incites that local travel is allowed, while on the other, we hear declarations from Local Chief Executives (LCEs) discouraging non-essential travel. Going to a farm tourism site is one of those non-essential travel.

In addition, the effort to promote farm tourism remains unsynchronized between DOT-VI and farm tourism service providers. Some of the Facebook pages of farm tourism spots have pinned advisories that they are closed for visitors while the timelines of others are not updated. The inconsistency is dispiriting for a would be traveler.

If farm tourism is a promising sector that can help spur the local economy under an ongoing pandemic, the tourism agency needs a more purposive effort that is directed on the public – local travelers – and not only on service providers and frontliners. We need local travelers to spend yet capacity support is not directed on them.

LGU support. Tourism revitalization requires an LGU support. The reality, however, is that tourism revival has yet to occupy the centerstage among LGU rehabilitation priorities. Many LCEs do not possess the balancing ability between firefighting Covid-19 and stimulating economic activities, as such, local resources is quickly depleting. The economy from the tourism side will not move.

Now, can Panay Island sustain the title given by Tripadvisor amid the pandemic? It is an irrelevant question at this time. What is relevant today are priority actions that will help address the challenges being faced by the tourism sector considering the many ambiguities; the actual lack of synchronicity between various stakeholders as a result of unprecedented disruption; disproportionate resource support, deficient capacities, and unclear programs.

The post [OPINION] Ilonggos are wooed to travel closer-to-home yet ambiguities abound first appeared on Iloilo Metropolitan Times.

[OPINION] Without a revitalization program, Iloilo City tourism will remain yawning

Ted Aldwin Ong — Sun, 06 Sep 2020 16:00:00 +0000

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas reported a stunning statistic: P7.4 billion estimated loss on total tourist receipts from March 17 to June 30.

Mayor Treñas also shared that from March 15 to June 15, loss on hotels and accommodation was at P678.3 million and another P28 million loss due to cancelled events during the online forum hosted by the Iloilo Local Economic Development Foundation’s (ILED) 13th Annual General Membership Meeting.

The figure is not bigtime yet for a city hailed as a ‘Wakanda’ to mirror its success in fighting the Coronavirus considering that those were estimated losses from March going to second quarter this year. It is already September, the last month of the third quarter, and the losses may now have eased in at an exponential level.

Tourism suffered enormous losses. The statistics presented by Mayor Treñas illustrate the immense blow to the tourism sector. There is no stopping for its downhill trek because local Coronavirus cases have climbed at fattening curve levels.

This is unfortunate for a sector that is considered as a major contributor to the local economy. In 2017, tourist arrivals to Iloilo City was 1,076,976 and it increased in 2018 with 1,242,010 visitors.

Around the same month last year, the Dept. of Tourism reported that Iloilo City had a total of 418,079 visitors. It was a partial data from the period January to July 2019 yet it generated P7.8 billion based from tourism receipts.

It is now impossible to attain even just half of that level of tourism revenue because of the pandemic: P7.8-billion revenues in 2019 versus P7.4-billion estimated losses this 2020.

We have heard of lamentations from LGU officials and travel executives that tourism may serve as a spark for the reactivation of the local economy for the industry is a major revenue generator before the Coronavirus.

A good question, however, is this: what are the steps being outlined by the Iloilo City Government on the area of tourism revitalization? There was something working before the pandemic, but what about during the pandemic, and assuming that the crisis will end sooner, after the pandemic.

The invisible plan. Is there a plan? It appears that there is one. Mayor Treñas discussed that the City Government has a “Business Service Area and Recovery Plan” made by USAID and it will be implemented with the help of the private sector.

The 3-point agenda generally looks like this: 1.) Examine the Local situation, capacities, and initial response undertaken by the City Government in responding to COVID-19 pandemic; 2.) Asses the associated risks brought about by the pandemic to the general population, business, and the local government administration; and 3.) Outline necessary initiatives to undertake in safeguarding the health of people, business, and communities while pursuing livelihood endeavors and economic activities.

The 3-point agenda is relevant for local tourism. Local tourism revitalization, however, requires a more detailed plan of action from the Iloilo City Tourism and Development Office. A plan of action is a formulated product that underwent participative consultation from industry stakeholders. This is perhaps the most effective way to attain what were outlined in the 3-point agenda.

A local tourism revitalization plan that is LGU-centric is nothing but a well-guarded ‘dead sea scroll’ – an invisible plan to say the least, for it will not invite cooperation from various stakeholders. Cooperation is crucial for it is an element that ensures harmonious implementation so that its set of objectives will be attained.

If the City Government can gain 1.7 million pieces of Pan de Sal support from bakers between April to May, then perhaps political consideration, overlapping priorities, limited resources, and restricted mobility may have hindered the development of a plan of action.

Revitalization requires a program. Agenda No. 3 emphasized the formulation of “necessary initiatives to undertake in safeguarding the health of people, business, and communities while pursuing livelihood endeavors and economic activities.”

This is great. But we cannot see nor feel that there is a program that propel these words into action seven months into fighting the Coronavirus. A program ensures the coordinated implementation of an effort from various units of the LGU, including legislative and resource support. Lack of a unified understanding of the task needed to attain the objectives and political considerations do not make an effective program.

It is also worth noting that photo contests, vlogging competitions, and intensive Facebook postings that aims to promote Iloilo City under the period of the pandemic are cosmetic promotions when these types of effort are not anchored on a program.

Essentially, programs are implemented by LGU units like the Iloilo City Tourism and Development Office in coordination with various offices, including the executive. It cannot be materialized by one person like Mayor Jerry Treñas for he is so occupied by the day-to-day governance work and the management of the health crisis.

Reactivation needs a campaign. Campaigns gets a politician elected. If a mayoral candidate can get elected after a 40+ day campaign, then logically, it can be said that campaigns can likewise deliver revitalization plans to its proper realization.

A campaign outlines the essential activities that includes proper communication initiatives to inform the public and to gather their cooperation and support. The P7.8-billion revenues from tourism receipts in 2019 did not popped-up from an invisible plan or from an obscure program. It was not accomplished using a word of mouth marketing or through a 24/7 Facebook presence.

Attaining revenue targets are products of a programmatic campaigning from the Dept. of Tourism down to regions and cities based on their strengths and priority focus like what happened to Meetings, Incentive Travels, Conferences/Conventions, Exhibitions/Events (MICE) which resulted to “Meet You in Iloilo” campaign in October 2019.

#BatoIloilo is an attractive motivational hashtag, but it is not anchored on a program. Even if the Iloilo City Government will produce 1-million T-Shirts printed with its graphics, #BatoIloilo will remain as such unless the hashtag becomes a component of a campaign program. It will not systematically revitalize the local economy although it will benefit the T-Shirt printer, the buyer, and the politician figure behind the hashtag.

The Iloilo City Government through Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas is investing a lot of effort on Facebook presence and through everyday radio interviews. It appears that they are enjoying Facebook likes, hearts, shares, and winning praises from a virtual audience through walloping gender insensitive soundbites, and – of course – occasion tears. We all cry these days.

It has been like that since March and that is the reason why the tourism cluster of our local economy is yawning. (Un)Happy Tourism Month!

The post [OPINION] Without a revitalization program, Iloilo City tourism will remain yawning first appeared on Iloilo Metropolitan Times.