THE Department of Tourism (DOT) is currently inspecting all tourism road projects that have been constructed in partnership with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco told reporters that she has instructed regional directors to conduct a due diligence on some 883 kilometers of tourism roads that had been completed by the DPWH from 2022 to 2024. This had been suggested by Senator Loren Legarda during the DOT’s budget presentation at the Senate in September.
‘I’m personally aware of many tourism roads that have been constructed because I have been to these destinations. But the due diligence has not yet been fully completed across all the regions. It’s ongoing at the moment,’ she said.
Asked if she had given the regional directors a deadline to submit their reports, Frasco said, ‘As soon as possible. My personal advocacy and pitch has been to improve tourism infrastructure. It’s not my mandate, but it is absolutely necessary for tourism to succeed. So the more that we can see that the budget is being devoted the right way to projects that actually benefit local communities, the more possibility there is of adding [to the] budget, because the fact remains that there’s zero budget for new tourism roads in 2026.’
Budget for new projects?
The DOT chief confirmed that she had already raised the idea of proposing a budget for new tourism roads with newly installed DPWH Secretary Vivencio ‘Vince’ B. Dizon, who has been seen as always supportive of the industry. ‘He didn’t make the [DPWH] budget for 2026, but I did pitch to him. And we’re hopeful that they see how important it is to invest in our destinations, because it really helps our stakeholders to have tourism roads,’ she underscored.
Under the National Expenditure Program for 2026, DPWH’s proposed budget for the Tourism Road Infrastructure Program next year is P3.55 billion, down from this year’s P6.1 billion allocation. (See, ‘Do your own spot checks, tourism roads may be next ghost projects, DOT told,’ in the BusinessMirror, Sept. 27, 2025.)
A number of goverment agencies whose projects had been implemented by the DPWH have already discovered ghost or substandard projects such as farm-to-market roads, in the case of the Department of Agriculture, health centers for the Department of Health, and classrooms for the Department of Education.
Meanwhile, Frasco said the DOT hesitates to further announce new targets for inbound tourists, despite an anticipated increase in arrivals from mainland China, with the rollout the electronic visa (e-visa) scheme for the market starting November. ‘I don’t want to give a number anymore because I don’t control the policy on e-visas,’ she said in a mix of Filipino and English.
6.7M target despite China fix
‘It’s really beyond my control. So it’s hard to assume a mandate that I don’t have. All I can do is to continue to sell the country, to market the country, and to communicate that the e-visa has now resumed, and we’re ready to receive Chinese tourists once again,’ she said.
The DOT has been drawing up a National Tourism Development Plan since 2012, a blueprint of strategies to reach several goals such as visitor arrivals, tourists’ spending, employment, and contribution to local economic output. The agency missed its 7.7-million inbound tourists target last year, however, which Frasco has been blaming on the suspension of the e-visa by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
‘So that has led to a conservatism, which I feel is necessary, a pragmatism that is dictated by the barriers to entry. We’re grateful that the e-visa has been resumed, but its suspension caused wide damage to the country, and we don’t anticipate surges as early as the end of this year,’ she said.
In a Senate budget hearing, Frasco said the agency projects 6.7 million inbound tourists in 2026. The DOT is already working with tourism stakeholders in the Philippines and in China, along with Philippine carriers ‘to rebuild that market.’