National News

Manila, Philippines—The Department of Tourism (DOT) lauds the winners of this year’s ASEAN Tourism Awards, with Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco noting that they have championed not just the Department’s set of standards for the local tourism industry but the whole region as well. In an awarding ceremony held in Vientiane, Laos on the sidelines of … Read more

Manila, Philippines—Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco will lead the Philippine tourism delegation at the 2024 ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) in Vientiane, Laos from January 24 to 26, 2024. Established in 1981, the ATF is a cooperative regional effort to promote the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as one tourist destination. Ten ASEAN … Read more

Cebu City—Sinulog sa Sugbo, dubbed as the country’s biggest festival, is more than just a crowd-attracting event, it also allows tourists to immerse themselves “in an experience that transcends the ordinary”, according to Department of Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco. The tourism chief, who graced the event as guest of honor, also described the festival … Read more

Manila, Philippines—One of the country’s crown jewels, Palawan, bags another prestigious accolade, this time as one of the Trending Destinations in the World for 2024 on Tripadvisor, the world’s largest travel site for travel deals and reviews. This latest recognition comes on the heels of Palawan’s back-to-back global citations in 2023 as one of the … Read more

The Marcos administration has established 131 specialty centers nationwide as of December 2023 and allocated PhP11.12 billion this year for more specialty centers in different parts of the country, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said. “Noong August 24, 2023 pinirmahan ko ang Republic Act No. 11959 known as the Regional Specialty Centers Act. Ito’y mga … Read more

Manila, Philippines—The tourism landscape in the Philippines is poised for a prospective uptick in the year ahead with the anticipated series of extended weekends throughout 2024. Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco of the Department of Tourism (DOT) has expressed her optimism, citing these elongated breaks as a potential catalyst for a substantial boost to the country’s … Read more

Manila, Philippines—The year 2023 is a win for the Philippine tourism industry as it welcomed more than five million international visitor arrivals from January 1 to December 31, 2023, recording more than PHP480 billion in international tourism receipts, according to Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco. According to the monitoring data of the … Read more

The Marcos administration will implement several measures to halt the entry of funds from abroad to finance terrorist activities, an official of the anti-money laundering body said on Tuesday. Matthew David, the Executive Director of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Secretariat, told a press briefing in Malacañang on Tuesday that there are three action items … Read more

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has ordered national government agencies (NGAs) to conduct an analysis on the operationalization of the full devolution initiative and come up with the list of functions that should be devolved to the local government units (LGUs). In a meeting held at the Malacañang last week, President Marcos cited the need … Read more

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Monday in condemning North Korea’s action to reportedly fire an intercontinental ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan. “We join Japan, together with the rest of the ASEAN, in condemning the continued threat that the launching [of] ballistic missiles by the … Read more