Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco has no plans of stepping down but will continue to head the Department of Tourism (DoT) despite facing mounting backlash and criticism online from detractors.

Frasco stressed yesterday that she remains focused on her job, brushing aside the noise on social media as she carries on with the work of promoting Philippine tourism.

“I serve at the pleasure of the President and I am very grateful that Malacañang has twice affirmed my continuation in this job. You have seen me work. We have been to all the regions of the country together. We have visited over 70 percent of our provinces to really make the work of tourism felt,” Frasco told selected reporters at a luncheon last Tuesday.

She maintained that the economic impact of tourism is so high “and our fellow Filipinos deserve to have a share in it, wherever they may be in the country.”

As of November 2025, the country’s tourism sector employed nearly seven million Filipinos, with its ripple effects benefiting more than 16 million people, and accounted for almost nine percent of GDP, generating P3.86 trillion in receipts in 2024.

Tourism receipts, or expenditures by international inbound visitors, including payments to national carriers for international transport, have reached P694 billion based on Bureau of Immigration-recorded arrivals last year, according to Frasco.

Official figures will be released by the Philippine Statistics Authority in July, she said.

Not running for national seat

Given tourism’s vital role in the economy, Frasco said her critics have weaponized the issue of her prioritizing self-promotion over highlighting the country’s world-class destinations — a claim she said that was fueled by speculation that she is planning to run for a national post in 2028.

“Unfortunately, that has been grossly misinterpreted as self-promotion. I am not running for any national position. The thing is I have only ever worked the way I know how, and that is to be present, on the ground, responsive, to listen when needed, and to act as urgently as possible.

“We have never stopped promoting the Philippines, and that is done by our offices abroad, our branding and marketing team, the regional offices, and the Tourism Promotions Board. We try to be as transparent as we can be to the public about what the DoT is doing. That is why I have a lot of photos, working photos,” she said.

She said most of the photos which were the object of the criticism showed her working “with tour guides and operators, travel agents, and local officials. Because I am on the ground, because that’s the work of tourism development required in a country of more than 7,000 islands.”

“You cannot promote and develop the Philippines by confining yourself to Manila and by posing in magazines. You have to be there, on the ground,” she said.

Frasco was bombarded with negative news towards the end of 2025, criticizing her for putting photos of herself instead of the country’s destinations in a magazine called Philippine Topics.

The DoT hit back, stating that the department did not contract, pay, commission, or direct the magazine to produce its cover or feature story.

Frasco said the magazine did not even interview her or ask permission to use her photos on the cover and its pages. The magazine is a Philippine-registered publication, published for the first time last December allegedly to smear Frasco.

“It carried weight because those who seek to destroy me gave it weight. Honestly, I am confident in the work that we’ve done, and we have reached as many people as possible and covered as many destinations as we possibly could. And I am always very candid about the challenges. Hopefully, the truth will come to light. More than any personal battle, this is a battle for the truth that is waged in the daily lives of our fellow Filipinos,” she said.

To recall, photographer Max Abasalo backpedaled on his earlier claim on social media that the DoT favored an image of Frasco over a destination photograph for the cover of the magazine.

Abasalo’s initial post which was circulated widely after being picked up by several news organizations was later deleted.

In a subsequent Facebook post, Abasalo clarified that he had no direct involvement with the publication and that his remarks were based on his personal observation rather than verified information.

“I am not affiliated with Philippine Topics, and I did not provide any materials or photos to them,” Abasalo wrote. “My recent post reflected a personal observation made in my capacity as an independent contractor who has previously worked on creative materials on Philippine destinations.”