CA confirms new DOT chief appointment

Without any objection, the appointment of Bernadette Romulo-Puyat as the new chief of the Department of Tourism (DOT) was approved by a panel of the Commission on Appointments (CA). (Photo: Department of Tourism – Philippines/Facebook)

Without any objection, the appointment of Bernadette Romulo-Puyat as the new chief of the Department of Tourism (DOT) was approved by a panel of the Commission on Appointments (CA) on Tuesday, May 29.

It was the CA’s committee on tourism and economic development that recommended Puyat’s confirmation upon Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri’s motion.

Speaking after the hearing, Puyat said that she was not expecting the immediate approval of the committee.

“You should have seen me in the room. I was reviewing, parang feeling ko may exam ako, parang kinakabahan ako (I felt like I had an examination, I was nervous). I didn’t expect it. I didn’t expect na (that) it was going to be fast,” Puyat was quoted as saying in an Inquirer report.

Puyat said that her first order of the day was to “Get back to work. Just work, work, work kasi ang dami pa nating kailangang gawin (because we still have a lot to do).”

The former Agriculture undersecretary was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to head the Tourism department on May 8. She replaced Wanda Tulfo-Teo, who resigned from her post amid an alleged corruption scandal. Puyat was sworn into office last May 14.

When she was appointed to the position, the President had only one instruction for her: to ensure that there is no corruption in the DOT.

“Ang bilin lang sa akin ni Presidente (The only instruction of the President to me) when he offered it and then I accepted, sabi niya, ‘Congratulations! Ang gusto ko lang, walang corruption (I only want no corruption). No corruption’,” Puyat told GMA’s Unang Balita on May 9.

Puyat, who is the daughter of Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, recently called off the food tourism project, “Buhay Carinderia.”

In an investigation ordered by the Tourism chief, it was revealed that the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), an attached agency of the DOT, issued checks amounting to P80 million pesos in less than a month, even though the project has not yet started. The project, which had a total budget of P320 million, was also found to not have undergone public bidding.