Secretary Ma. Esperanza Christina Garcia Frasco is the current Secretary of the Department of Tourism. A multiawarded Mayor of the Municipality of Liloan in the Province of Cebu, her transformational leadership fostered Liloan’s development towards sustainability, livability, and innovation with aggressive infrastructure
development, education support, economic recovery, and social protection programs earning awards for Liloan as
the Top Model Municipality and Most Resilient Municipality in the Philippines.
Throughout the challenges of the pandemic and the super typhoon that recently devastated Central Visayas, she led Liloan’s recovery and resurgence towards having the highest growth rate in Cebu. Under her leadership, Liloan has the distinction of being a four-time recipient of the highest audit rating given by the Commission on Audit, and it has received more than 40 good governance awards and citations from local and national award-giving bodies.
A lawyer by profession, she practiced international arbitration and commercial litigation and was a professor of law prior to joining public service in 2016. For her vast experience in local governance, Vice President Sara Z. Duterte appointed then Mayor Frasco her spokesperson for the 2022 National Elections.
After winning a fresh mandate for her third and final term as Mayor in the last elections, President Ferdinand R Marcos, Jr. handpicked her to lead the Department of Tourism (DOT), a challenge she whole-heartedly accepted as she committed to support the President’s vision for tourism to become one of the country’s major economic pillars and an effective driver of the Philippines’ post-pandemic national recovery.
With Secretary Frasco at the helm of the tourism industry, the DOT aims to improve infrastructure and accessibility; push for comprehensive digitalization; enhance tourist experience; equalize tourism product development and promotion to increase livelihood and economic opportunities; diversify tourism products and widen tourism circuits; maximize domestic tourism while enhancing international tourism; and strengthen tourism governance through close coordination with local government units and stakeholders. Enhancing the overall tourist experience through connectivity, convenience, equality of promotion and development of tourist destinations across the country, and uplifting the quality of products and services to reflect a distinct Filipino brand, will be the main focus points of the tourism portfolio.
Now, as the country’s Tourism Chief, Secretary Frasco brings her local government perspective, administrative and legal experience, and a collaborative and multi-dimensional approach to the short, medium- and long-term development of the Tourism Industry. With the goal of propelling The Philippines to exceed its current global standing and tourist arrival numbers, and transform it to a tourism powerhouse in Asia.
