Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 20) — President Rodrigo Duterte is satisfied with Tourism Secretary Bernadette “Berna” Puyat’s performance, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said Friday, despite presidential son and Deputy Speaker Paolo Duterte’s allegations against her.
“He’s (President Duterte) happy with the work of Secretary Berna so far, so abangan na lang natin. Anyway magkakaroon naman kami ng Cabinet meeting… Perhaps we’ll have some directives from the President as far as the Tourism industry is concerned,” Nograles told reporters.
[Translation: The President is happy with the work of Secretary Berna so far, so let’s just wait. We’ll have a Cabinet meeting and perhaps the President will give some directives as far as the Tourism industry is concerned.]
Davao City 1st District Rep. Duterte on Thursday said he had heard of some complaints about Puyat’s management style in relation to her approval of contracts and projects in the Tourism department, but did not specify what the complaints were.
READ: Paolo Duterte rails against Puyat at DOT’s budget deliberations
Nograles said he is unaware of any complaints against Puyat that have reached the President and if the two have discussed the allegations.
He also lauded Puyat, saying tourism industry stakeholders have no complaints against her.
“Under her watch tumaas po ‘yung tourism numbers natin, dumami ‘yung turista natin at maganda naman ‘yung industry,” he said.
[Translation: Under her watch tourism numbers have increased, the number of tourists went up and the undustry in general is good.]
The agency earlier said that the number of foreign tourists who visited the country incrased by almost 12 percent to 4.1 million in the first half of the year.
“Pati ‘yung mga stakeholder natin sa tourism industry, wala namang reklamo kay Sec. Berna. Mabilis naman umaksyon, masipag naman, maganda naman ‘yung mga project ng DOT right now under her watch,” Nograles added.
[Translation: Even stakeholders in the tourism industry have no complaints against Secretary Berna. She responds quickly and is hardworking. The DOT also has good projects under her watch.]
Puyat has yet to respond to Rep. Duterte’s claims.
READ: Foreign tourist arrivals reach 4.1 million in six months – DOT
