Panayam kay DOT Usec. Myra Paz Valderrosa Abubakar kaugnay ng pag-angat ng halal tourism sa bansa
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00:00 The rise of Halal Tourism in the country, we will discuss with the Department of Tourism
00:06 Undersecretary Mayra Paz Valderosa Abubakar.
00:10 Usec Mayra, good afternoon and welcome to the new Philippines today.
00:16 Hi, Assalamualaikum, Marakmadulayakum, Marakaso, good afternoon Miss Lina and Usec Marge, good
00:23 afternoon to each and everyone.
00:25 Good afternoon ma'am.
00:26 For our countrymen, when we say Halal Tourism, what is the development focus of this?
00:34 What are the examples in the tourism sector that we can say is a Halal-friendly tourism
00:40 destination?
00:41 Actually, when we talk about Halal Tourism, it means for our brothers and sisters, this
00:50 is for our Muslim brothers and sisters specifically.
00:53 But then Halal is actually not for Muslim, but it's a way of life.
00:57 And when we say it's not just about food, that's why we made it Halal Tourism.
01:05 Because aside from the destination, we have to consider the food and then our accommodation
01:11 establishments, then we have to be prepared.
01:13 So actually, aside from Halal Tourism, we're also pushing for Muslim-friendly tourism in
01:19 the Philippines, knowing that the Philippines is not a Muslim-dominated country compared
01:25 to Brunei and Indonesia and Malaysia.
01:28 Kaya we're starting as Muslim-friendly country.
01:33 Kamakailan po ay pinangalanan ang Pilipinas as an emerging Muslim-friendly non-organization
01:40 of Islamic cooperation in the MasterCard Crescent Rating Global Muslim Travel Index.
01:47 Ano po ang masasabi ninyo dito at paano po natin nakamit ito?
01:52 Actually po, pangalawang taon na po natin nakamit ang emerging non-OIC destination no ang Pilipinas.
02:00 And nasutuwa po ako dahil po sa pagtulung-tulungan po natin, especially po ni Presidente Ferdinand
02:06 Bongbong Marcos Jr. at ang ating Department of Tourism Secretary, na si Secretary Cristina
02:12 Garcia Franco, sabay-sabay po natin pinupush ang ating pagiging Muslim-friendly, gaya po
02:20 kaya po tayo nanalo ng award, dahil po ang dami po natin ginagawa para po maging Muslim-friendly
02:27 ang Pilipinas.
02:28 Isaac Mayra, ano-ano po ba ang iba pang mga hakbang at programa ng Tourism Department para
02:35 mahikayat ang mga kapitid nating Muslim na bumesita sa ating bansa?
02:40 Just recently, Secretary Cristina Garcia Franco signed an amended memorandum circular, ito
02:49 po yung para sa accommodation establishments natin na accredited ng DOT na maging Muslim-friendly.
02:55 So meron po tayo mga guidelines on how an accommodation establishment can be Muslim-friendly.
03:01 And then another in the pipeline is another memorandum circular na nasa legal office na
03:06 maging Muslim-friendly. This one is for the restaurants na maging Muslim-friendly. And
03:11 also we are pushing for more restaurants in the Philippines na maging halal na po talaga
03:17 siya which means meron po talaga siyang kutina na halal certified by a third party certifier
03:23 natin. Aside from that, ipupush ko na din po on June 14-16, we're going to have the first
03:30 Department of Tourism Halal Trade and Tourism Expo na gaganapin po sa Gateway 2 Mall sa
03:36 Araneta City in Quezon City.
03:39 Alright ma'am, para po sa mas inclusive at cultural sensitive na turismo, ano-ano po
03:46 ba yung inyong mga considerations and factors to help the growing market ng halal products
03:51 and tourism?
03:53 Yes. Especially po, alam naman po natin na pag sinabi po natin Muslim, meron po mga
04:00 bawal at mga meron po pwedeng gawin. Sa mga pagkain po nila, isa po yung nakailangan
04:06 natin i-consider. And then pangalawa po kung paano po yung how we treat them and how we
04:12 talk to them is also another area na kailangan po natin. Kaya tinuturuan po natin, meron
04:19 po yung training for our mga employees ng ating mga tourism stakeholders on how to greet
04:26 them and how to act properly when they are around.
04:30 Yusek Myra, sa patuloy na pag-angat at pagkakilala sa ng global market sa halal tourism and industry
04:37 sa bansa, gaano kalaking opportunity ito pagdating sa socio-economic growth ng ating bansa? At
04:45 yung pagdating sa employment opportunities din po?
04:49 Napakalaki po ng ating opportunity especially dahil po sa MasterCard atyaka sa Crescent Rating
04:58 po. Ang sinasabi po nila in 2028 we will have at least USD$230 billion in receipts. Yung
05:05 po yung expected na maging receipt. And mano po ba na magkaroon din po tayo na malagyan
05:13 din po ang Pilipinas ng ganoon klaseng receipt when we are able to provide for our Muslim
05:19 brothers and sisters naman.
05:21 Ma'am, sa inyo pong datos, ilang Muslim visitors na po ba ang bumisita ngayon sa bansa sa taong
05:27 ito? At ano-ano pa po inyong mga programang dapat naming abangan to help halal tourism
05:34 grow ngayong taon?
05:36 Based po on our 2022 data as compared to 2023, we have already had 120% increase. In 2022
05:49 po we had around 200 Muslim visitors when we're just talking about Muslim visitors from
05:55 other countries and then now we're already up to 500,000 Muslim visitors from other countries.
06:02 Considering pa po, we have at least 15 million Muslim Filipinos living in the Philippines.
06:10 So doon po, ang dami po tayong pwede po natin gawin para sa ating mga kapatid ng Muslim.
06:21 So ang mga programa po natin ngayon aside from the Halal Expo, we're also pushing for the
06:27 Muslim-friendly accommodation establishment and then ang Muslim-friendly restaurants po
06:32 natin. Then we're also coming up with a travel log. This is for our Muslim visitors. This
06:39 will comprise three volumes naman po. One is mga destinations na pwede po nilang puntahan.
06:45 Ang pangalawa po yung mga pagkain atsaka mga restaurants na pwede naman po nilang kainan.
06:51 Atsaka third po, the third volume will be about for non-Muslims naman po so that they will
06:57 better understand the fundamentals of the way of life of a Muslim naman.
07:03 Yusek Myra, is DOT actively collaborating with yung mga travel agencies, private partners
07:13 to encourage and promote our halal tourism?
07:18 Yes, of course. We've been doing orientations in the different regions among our tourism
07:26 stakeholders. Ito na po yung travel agencies, tour operators po natin. And we're actually
07:32 encouraging them to do tour packages na for our Muslim visitors na pwede po nilang puntahan.
07:38 So meron po tayong mga orientations for our travel agencies, tour operators as well as
07:44 our hotel naman stakeholders. So ginagawa po natin yun regularly and dumiikot po tayo
07:50 sa mga regions to do this.
07:52 Okay.
07:53 Alright. Ay, sorry. Go ahead Yusek Myra.
07:56 So Yusek Myra, ano na lang po, no? Okay, mensahin niyo na lang po sa ating mga kababayan and
08:02 maybe you could invite them again on your event on June 14?
08:07 Yes. Unang-una po na is nating pasalamatan ang ating presidente, si Presidente Ferdinand
08:13 Bongbong Marcos Jr., pati na din po ang ating Department of Tourism Secretary, nang si Secretary
08:18 Cristina Garcia-Ezras. Dahil po talagang sinutulak nila ang pagkakaroon po natin ng active participation
08:26 po nila para po maging Muslim-friendly ang Filipinas. And then eventually, we will be able
08:32 to do halal tourism also in the Philippines, although we have started. Pero kailangan po
08:37 po nating pagtulong-tulungan po nating lahat. Hindi lang po ang Department of Tourism, pero
08:42 ang mga ibang ahensya po kasama din natin dito na magkaisa po tayo para sa Muslim-friendly
08:48 tourism and halal tourism. Muli po, nais ko po kayong imbitahin sa ating first Department
08:54 of Tourism Halal Trade and Tourism Expo, which is going to happen on June 14 to 16 at Gateway
09:01 2 Mall sa Araneta City in Cubao, Quezon City. So maraming salamat po. Thank you very much
09:08 for this opportunity. Wasalamu alaikum. Marakmatulayat ala Wabarakatuh. Good afternoon.
09:14 Maraming salamat po sa inyong oras, Department of Tourism Undersecretary Mayra Paz Valderosa
09:20 Abubakar.