PHILIPPINES NEWS SERVICE — Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano has given the Bureau of Immigration a pat on the back for adopting and implementing the “No Touch, No Contact” and the “Tattoo is an Art” policies on the treatment of tourists, particularly Japanese.
“These policies reflect the responsiveness of the Bureau of immigration and its leadership in addressing immediate concerns,” Durano said in referring to Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan.
In a recent letter, Libanan informed Durano that he had issued a memorandum order prohibiting immigration officers from making any physical contact with any passenger or searching their handcarried luggages unless otherwise required by special circumstances.
Searching handcarried luggages, according to Libanan’s order, is a domain of the security officials and customs authorities.
“Relatedly, under the ‘Tattoo is an Art’ policy, no passenger suspected of having tattoo shall be made to show, display or exhibit the same unless coupled with other indicia of waywardness or derogatory information from validated sources. Thus, a mere tattoo, unless either morally offensive, indecent and vulgar, or politically and racially insidious depiction, shall be treated with artistic value,” Libanan’s letter states.
The two policies stemmed from reports of alleged harassment of Japanese tourists by immigration personnel at the country’s international airports, which prompted Durano to bring up the matter to Libanan, both were former colleagues in Congress.
“With the strict implementation of the said policies, it is expected that concerns of alleged harassments of any passenger in our premier airports will be eliminated. Nonetheless, we truly appreciate your bringing to us such matter as it validated the reforms and programs we have implemented and will continue to implement in the pursuit of the bureau’s mandate to protect our sovereign state,” Libanan’s letter further states.
This positive development came on the heels of Durano’s highly successful third Philippine Business Mission to Japan, where he led an industry delegation to Nagoya, Osaka and Tokyo, according to the Department of Tourism’s Team Japan head Director Benito Bengzon Jr.
“Investments ushered in by this annual PBM primarily go to the improvement and expansion of the country’s tourism capacity,” Bengzon said.
From last year’s 10,000 room capacity, it is expected to rise to at least 13,000 this year with the opening of an aggregate 3,000 new hotel rooms before yearend.
Through the PBM, members of the local tourism industry gain bilateral government assistance in finding Japanese buyers of travel packages, investors in new projects, and partners for joint ventures or asset acquisitions, and other business linkages.
The first and second PBM helped push the country’s foreign arrivals to an unprecedented 2.62 million in 2005 and 2.84 million in 2006, with Japan as a major source of tourists.
Japan is projected to account for over a million, or more than 20 percent, of the country’s five million target arrivals by 2010.
Accounting for the biggest tourist spend, Japan is also the country’s second biggest investor and trade partner, and the largest donor of official development assistance.
Dollar revenues from tourists help alleviate poverty since these are largely spent on food produced by farmers, transportation services provided by drivers, shopping and hotel accommodations that employ thousands of workers, souvenir items crafted mostly by rural folk, clothes and apparel manufactured by factory personnel, and many other products that are mostly of 100-percent local content.
“Tourism is like exporting our products to other countries by making their people come and buy directly from us and consume everything here to our utmost benefit. On the other hand, foreign investments in tourism infrastructure and facilities create the biggest beneficial impact since these generate huge number of jobs over the short and long-term,” Durano said.