While waiting for their ride in a hotel lobby in Ho Chi Minh City, lawyer Rolando Lim and his wife Juliet were approached by another tourist who introduced himself as German.
He apparently overheard the couple’s conversation and was sufficiently familiar with the language because he asked them if they were Filipinos.
When they confirmed that they were, a torrent of words poured out of the German’s mouth. I’m not going back to your country, he began. Everything — accommodation, food and transportation — is expensive. And your Internet is lousy.
His passion grew with each recitation of his grievances while Lando and Julie listened in silence. They did not argue, not because they were shocked by what they heard but because they knew that he was telling the truth.
I have not been to Vietnam but friends who had swear that accommodation and food are a lot cheaper, the streets are paved and Internet service was more accessible.
No wonder their tourist arrivals are high and ours are dismal. Should we blame it on Christina Frasco?
The Cebuana tourism secretary has become a magnet for criticism, a recurring target in the country’s cycle of outrage, online and otherwise. Tourism is in the doldrums and Frasco is its poster girl.
But come to think of it, does the tourism secretary have the power to compel the hotels to lower their rates and the restaurants to sell their food cheaper? Can she cancel the franchises of the Internet providers for their unreliable service?
Does she have a say over which roads to pave and which bridges to fix? The road to Oslob, for example, is so bad you’d feel at the end of the ride as if you have just spent one round of sparring with Manny Pacquiao in the ring.
This is not finger pointing. Frasco is not without blame and should be criticized but for the right reasons. A critic cannot demand high standard in public office and not adhere to the same standard in his criticism.