TOURISM Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said the Philippines is positioning itself as one of Asia’s most LGBTQIA+ friendly destinations.

She said this as she unveiled the government’s plans and programs aimed at giving the Philippines an inclusive tourism development under the Marcos administration. In September, the first-ever Tourism Pride Summit will be staged.

Frasco, during her Keynote Address at the Philippine Financial & Inter-Industry (PFIP) Pride Summit 2023, noted the massive opportunities for the development of LGBTQIA+ tourism in the Philippines.

Last month, the Tourism chief welcomed a courtesy visit from the executives of the PFIP for its partnership with the DOT on the Tourism Pride Summit in time for tourism month.

In addition to hosting the Tourism Pride Summit with the PFIP, the DOT, with Frasco at its helm, has identified the LGBTQIA+ tourism-related as a priority under the Office of Special Concerns of the Office of the Secretary.

The Department also sees to it that employees receive training on relevant topics including Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC) awareness and the basics of Gender and Development (GAD).

”We at the Department of Tourism take pride in having a multitude of numbers from your community across the tourism value chain in all of the regions of the Philippines–from our personnel and, accommodation and services sector, from the frontline, managerial, supervisory, and upper echelons of the tourism industry, and even including our frontline tourism personnel in our local government units, from our pasalubong makers, to our choreographers, our artistic directors, costume makers, festival dancers, our various members of the Department of Tourism regional offices that are also members of the community.

You are very well represented in the Department of Tourism and in the industry itself and your contribution to the success of tourism is invaluable,” Frasco said.

The DOT Chief is elated as she joined the organization in celebrating “love, and the gains that the PFIP has made in its 10-year existence” and prefaced her message by sharing her experiences as former Mayor of Liloan, Cebu.

Secretary Frasco organized and federated the Liloan LGBTQ, making it the first municipality in Cebu to have a fully federated LGBT federation in all barangays.

As Liloan mayor, Frasco also actively pursued programs and initiatives in support of the community, including the construction of a gender-equal comfort room at the municipal plaza.

Each of the municipality’s council and committee also has an LGBT representative, the Tourism Chief said.

Echoing the President’s recent pronouncements during his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) on the Filipino people’s demonstration of their love of country, Frasco said that “This love of country, pride of place, pride of community, I see very well in the PFIP, your Board of Trustees, your officers, your members, your delegates who are present here today, for indeed expressing love for one another, is also an expression of love for our country.”

“And so, you have my full unequivocal support, and I am very eager to partner with PFIP and with all of you, to ensure that we accomplish our goal of making the Philippines one of the most [LGBT-friendly] places in Asia, and I am sincerely hopeful for your support for our effort to give our fellow Filipinos and the rest of the world all the reasons to love the Philippines,” she said.