The Department of Tourism vowed to show the real situation in the Philippines during the tour of the Miss Universe in the country this month.
DOT Secretary Wanda Teo said that they will not hide the homeless like what the previous administration did whenever there was a big event hosted by the country.
Teo said that the candidates must see the real situation of the Philippines.
“We will not hide the squatters, we want them to see what the Philippines is,” she said. “There are also squatters in their places, so we don’t need to hide them”.
During the Asia Pacific Economic summit held in Metro Manila last 2015, homeless and street children were sent on a resort to hide them from the eyes of foreign dignitaries who visited the country.
Teo said that she does not see the need to resort to the same thing since it is not new to the candidates to see informal settlers and homeless around the street.
She also said that they will contain the candidates in their hotels during the time that they do not have any schedules to avoid traffic congestions.
“The President really told us to avoid traffic congestion because of our event, so we will just contain them in their hotels during those days that they do not have any schedules,” she said.
The secretary said that she expects that after the Miss Universe candidate tour around the country, it will boost the tourism industry of the Philippines.
She added that she hopes that through this, other countries will lift their travel advisory in Mindanao.
“I want them to have the impression that it is safe to travel Mindanao after their visit here and hopefully they will lift their travel advisories,” Teo said.
After the pageant, the DOT expects 2 million tourist in 2018.
