Justin Uy, the so-called Mango King of the Philippines and outgoing President of the Mandaue- Cebu Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Inc. tackled the problems of Philippine tourism that are driving the tourists away. These start from the high cost of visa imposed upon Chinese tourists amounting to 2,000 yuan which is close to Php16,000. He said that in Thailand, its visa-free, in other Asian countries, its visa on arrival. In Cebu, tourists are welcomed by x-ray machines, why is that? Drug dealers don’t pass their drugs there. Tourists also take longer time to queue up to immigration because we have ten cubicles but sometimes only five is being manned,” he quips.
In Singapore, they have automated passport reading machines all across various immigration entry and exit points cutting time lining up for immigration clearance. We could not also disregard stories of airport officials withholding valuable items such as luxury bags from tourists that they bought somewhere and bring during their travel. “Why do these kinds of things? We should make visitors happy, we are known for our hospitality, but our service is so restrictive, its harder for tourists to come back,” Uy added.
Acknowledging the fact that the private sector cannot do it alone, they rally the government and media to help in uplifting our country’s tourism competitiveness by being proactive. Mr. Uy mentioned two starting points where government can evolve. One is service which we Filipinos are very well known for – hospitality, good service and a cheerful disposition. Second is infrastructure as a means to improve on the transportation and logistical problems.
Dr. Cecilio Pedro, the federation’s President added mass transport as the third factor to make Cebu competitive with our neighbors. Mass transport eases the burden of Cebu’s traffic and logistical nightmare because its roads are narrow. One challenge is the high risk of digging underground for subways because Cebu is island-based so water will surface during the drilling. Another challenge he said is the political bickering of Cebu’s prominent leaders over the plan.
In the year 2024, Thailand registered 35 million tourists spent more than 1.6 Triilion baht (Php 2.7Trillion) according to its Minister of Tourism Sorawong Thienthong. The Philippines just registered more or less 6 million tourists in the same year according to the DOT website.
In 1969, the Philippine economy is the second richest country in Southeast Asia next only to Indonesia according to the World Bank and IMF. But after 50 years, we are at the bottom, slightly higher than Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.
The Federation of Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. ( FFCCCII) officials are committed to help the Philippines become stable and competitive with our ASEAN neighbors. Dr. Pedro, said. “we are pro- stability, pro-country. We may have Chinese blood, we look Chinese but our hearts are Filipino. We are Filipinos and we love this country.”
However, the federation officials, sharing sentiments of majority of the Filipinos, are opposed to political division against branches of the government, especially the looming impeachment which will again divide the country and cause chaos and difficulty for our people.
The Cebu Mandaue Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industries Inc. (CMCCCII) has transitioned to a new leader led by Mr. Johnson Ng who also inducted CMCCCII Young Professionals they dubbed as Young Pros to help in the association’s sustainability while training young members on its core values, outreach and social programs.