The Doom of Philippine Tourism

And the Over-Rated Petilla

By Apolinario Villalobos

The brouhaha over the energy crisis in the Philippines does not help a bit in making all Filipinos realize the magnitude of the problem. The have-nots who comprise a very significant slice of the population do not give it a damn as they are used to it anyway, crisis or no crisis, they are in the dark twenty four hours a day. Those who belong to the thinning percentage of the middle class, are of course, the most vocal about it, even joining rallies. And, the ritzy rich, just don’t give a damn, because all they need to do is run to hotels if blackouts occur or fly out of the country more frequently.

Overall, however, the crisis spells the doom of Philippine tourism which for decades has been developed by airline companies, shipping companies, travel agencies, tour bus operators, resort and hotel operators, restaurant owners, etc. These are the ones who are worried to death. Tourists can be classified generally into two: the first, are those who travel on a shoestring budget, and who require less comfort. The second one, are those who have fat wallets and require total comfort. The shoestring tourist would not mind staying in a lodging house, but with at least running water and electric fan which are necessary even for a minimal comfort. On the other hand, the finicky tourists require luxury, practically, to its last bit.

How do we expect tourists to stay in hotels that suddenly run on noisy generators and with elevators that suddenly stop midway up or down?   Or expect them to enjoy dinner in restaurants that suddenly got enveloped with darkness? Or expect participants to be attentive in a seminar held at an out–of-town venue when they got drenched with sweat due to the aircon units that suddenly conked out?

 Finally, Petilla who heads the agency responsible in monitoring the situation of energy in our country, admitted that indeed, the country is facing an energy crisis until two years from now. It can be recalled that he boastfully declared, and consistently with all seriousness on his face at that, since last year, that the country is safe from such crisis until 2015. Now what? Glaringly, his agency has had no long-range planning as far as their operation is concerned! He has been talking nonsense all the time, trying to give an impression that he is on top of the situation…that he is a bright guy, and that is why the President can’t just kick him out of his office despite clamors because he knows best! He is practically over-rated!

Today, he is noisy with his “suggestion” to give the President emergency power so that the energy crisis can be remedied outright. What remedy is he talking about? The remedy used by the then President Ramos just pushed the country towards damnation – sky rocketing of power rates! Is he talking about deployable barges with generators that run on diesel that will have the same mentioned result? He must be out of his mind, because the rates will prove to be just beyond the reach of the ordinary Filipino. What is irritating is his temerity in habitually giving remarks implying that the Filipinos have no choice but bite the bait or suffer blackouts.

He wasted precious years since the first day of his appointment, by not working on long-range plans and studies on alternative sources of energy. What happened to the inventions of Filipinos that cry for support from the government? Are they just good for archiving after they have been “recorded” for pending patents? What happened to the bright ideas from the students – young inventors of the country? He thought of himself as a bright boy, whose every mumbled word can be relied on as a good decision. He is numb to the real situation. He made use of himself as the mouthpiece of the greedy people behind oil firms by announcing in advance oil price increases. He wallowed in the company of greedy manipulators of Philippine economy.

I think the best thing that Petilla can do is grope his way out of darkness to save what remains of his face from further humiliation due to his inconsistencies and arrogance. That way, too, he can lessen the burden of his friend, the President. He must bail himself out by admitting that his “intelligence” is not enough to solve the energy crisis of the country. This is the best way, rather than be written down in the pages of Philippine history as an Energy Secretary who did nothing but talk and talk….FOR the oil companies regarding their increasing rates…. and TO the Filipinos, to warn them of blackouts to happen!

The country is flooded not only with rainwater during typhoon seasons, but more during the twelve months of the year, with words that come out from the mouth of ludicrous officials!