Tourism chief hits back at industry group

MANILA, Philippines—Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim on Saturday  dismissed calls from a private tourism group for President Benigno Aquino to sack him.

In a statement, Lim said the Tourism Congress, which called for his replacement, had been opposed to his designation as tourism secretary from the very beginning.

“From the very start, the Tourism Congress was opposed to my nomination and appointment as Secretary of Tourism,” Lim said. “This is because I have always advocated wider private-sector participation by all accredited tourism enterprises in the membership of the Tourism Congress as mandated by law.”

Lim said the Department of Tourism was in the process of revising the implementing rules and regulations of the Tourism Act of 2009 “as instructed by the House committee on tourism” to review the membership of the Tourism Congress.

This is being done “in order to better conform with the spirit and letter of the law and resolve existing sentiments of disenfranchisement within the tourism industry,” Lim said.

“Nationwide consultations were conducted at the grassroots level by all our regional offices. Our regional directors presented the proposed revisions before accredited enterprises, many of whom were excluded from membership in the present Tourism Congress,” he added.

Lim said a copy of the proposed revisions was posted on the DOT website “which the members of the Tourism Congress could easily download.”

“An e-mail address was also provided in the website where comments are to be sent to,” he added.