Mall execs apologize over Cordi folk’s ‘discrimination’

By George Trillo

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga – Organizers of the 3rd North Luzon travel and tourism exposition and government tourism officials who demanded a formal apology from personnel of a mall who allegedly discriminated against the culture of Cordillera folk by attempting to bar Cordillera menfolk in loin clothes or bahag from performing at the mall here last week got what they wanted: the mall apologized in a statement.

Pura Molintas, director of the Department of Tourism for the Cordillera Administrative Region, earlier demanded a formal apology from mall personnel “for committing a moral infraction against the indigenous people of the Cordilleras.”

A statement issued by the DOT in Central Luzon accused mall personnel of describing the Cordillera male attire as “obscene,” “scandalous,” and fit to be shown “only in the uplands and never in the central plains of Luzon.”

The controversy stemmed from the alleged attempt of mall manager Lana Erroba to stop indigenously attired students from the Pines City National High School’s Teatro Pino from performing a cultural dance on stage at the mall events center here as part of the travel and tourism exposition held Nov. 14 to 16.

In a related development, the three-day North Philippines Tourism and Travel Expo 2008, meant to drum up tourism activities in four prime regions of the North got a rude awakening after six out of seven provincial governors, including host Gov. Eddie Panlilio, snubbed it, marking a low point in tourism activities in President Arroyo’s home region.

The no-show of the governors has drawn criticisms from organizers and participants who said the local execu¬tives’ disdain towards tourism activities explains why the region ranks only seventh among the 16 regions in the country in terms of tourism competitiveness despite it being the home region of Ms Arroyo and Philippine Tourism Authority general manager Mark Lapid and despite the presence of Subic and Clark and other tourism magnets.

The snub was reportedly nothing new since in previous tourism activities, only Aurora Gov. Bella Angara-Castillo was visible with her other counterparts opting to skip the events.

Angara-Castillo is one of very few executives who made tourism a cornerstone of her development agenda codenamed Health which stands for health, education, agriculture, livelihood, tourism and human resource development.