MANILA --  Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco on Wednesday, July 20, affirmed the Department’s full support to the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) during her attendance at the 3rd quarter regular Board of Trustees (BoT) meeting held at the National Museum in Manila.

Others present at the meeting were Evangelina Lourdes Arroyo- Bernas, NMP Chairperson; Jeremy Barns, Director General of NMP; Jorell M.  Legazpi, Deputy Director for Museums; and Board of Trustees from the private sector Andoni M. Aboitiz, Dr. Jurgenne Primavera, and Dr. Rene R. Escalante. Senator Nancy Binay and other trustees also joined the meeting virtually.

The Tourism Secretary is joined, as members of the NMP BoT, by the Education Secretary, the Tourism Committee Chair of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the Chairperson of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the Director-General of the National Museum, and eight (8) representatives of the private sector in the National Museum Board. It may be noted that that the NMP’s mandate is to establish, manage and develop museums not only in Manila but also in key locations around the country.

During the meeting, Frasco expressed her gratitude to the members of the board, and offered the Department of Tourism’s assistance in the marketing and promotions of museums across the country, as well as the establishment of tourism circuits for museums so public knowledge and access to these museums could be in the mainstream.

“I wish to thank all of you for what you have done to push forward the preservation of our heritage. My personal presence here, today, I hope, signals my intention to give the full support of the Department of Tourism to the National Museum of the Philippines and to all of your projects nationwide. I wanted the support to be tacitly manifested by my physical presence and you can be rest assured that I will be your ally in the Department of Tourism,” remarked Frasco.

An advocate of culture and the arts herself, the former Mayor of Liloan added “All of your efforts deserve to be highlighted and the general public needs to really know about all the activities, because giving the general public access to all of these worthwhile endeavors would also benefit both the museum and the public in general, in that, we are able to provide a mainstream access to all that the museums have to offer.

Frasco has earlier directed the officials of the Department to reach out to local government units all over the country to equalize marketing and promotions. This, she added, can also be executed for the properties managed by the NMP. “I hope to have a similar effort done for the National Museum because I will be very interested to explore how we can assist in increasing engagement for its endeavors,” said the tourism chief. (DOT)