MANILA — Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco has ordered all regional offices of the Department of Tourism (DOT) to immediately remove any government-funded promotional materials bearing her image, following sharp criticism raised during a Senate hearing over alleged self-promotion in tourism campaigns.
Frasco said the directive covers all existing materials and includes a standing instruction to stop the production of similar content, stressing that the controversy has become a distraction from more urgent concerns facing the tourism sector.
“I have already issued an order—as far as we are concerned to the DOT—to take down any material that may bear my image, and to not produce any material that may bear my image,” Frasco said during Kapihan sa Manila Bay on Wednesday.
She added that the department would also coordinate with local government units to ensure her photo is not used in tourism-related promotions.
“There are so many other things that we need to consider that are of national importance,” she said.
Frasco emphasized that she never authorized the use of her image in tourism materials, insisting there was no standing directive to revoke.
“There has never been an order on my end or on the part of the DOT directing the putting up of my image in any of our destinations,” she said.
“So there is no order to revoke because there has never been such an order to put up my image to begin with,” she added.
The issue surfaced during a Senate Committee on Tourism hearing on Tuesday, when Senator Raffy Tulfo presented magazines and campaign materials that prominently featured Frasco. Tulfo argued that tourism promotions should focus on destinations rather than government officials.
Frasco rejected the accusation, saying her public visibility stemmed from the demands of her office and not from political motives.
“What is being questioned is why I am very visible. The accusation is that I am very visible because I wish to promote myself,” she said. “But there may be room for the argument that I am very visible because I’m simply working—nothing else.”
She also denied having plans to seek national office and dismissed claims of self-promotion as baseless.
Frasco further explained that the DOT operates separate platforms, distinguishing between corporate channels that report on agency programs and marketing platforms dedicated solely to promoting Philippine destinations.
“As far as the marketing platform is concerned, we have evidence to prove that the destinations, products, and merits of the Philippines have been the singular subject of promotion,” she said./PN
