By Tonette Orejas, Vincent Cabreza
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:30:00 11/18/2008
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Department of Tourism officials and leaders of tourism councils in four regions have scrapped the SM City Clark as future venue of the North Philippines Exposition to protest attempts by mall officials to stop dancers wearing a g-string from performing there.
Reached in China through text messages, DOT Central Luzon director, Ronaldo Tiotuico, confirmed the boycott led by the DOT and tourism councils in the Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Cordillera and Central Luzon.
SM City Clark apologized for the incident. “We are sorry that there has been some misunderstanding regarding the event,”
SM City Clark said in a statement sent to the Inquirer.Apology
“It was not our intention to prevent the group from performing in their costume as we are aware that this is a cultural show.”
The statement said the SM City Clark management was setting an appointment with DOT Central Luzon Director Ronaldo Tiotuico “to apologize to and clarify the matter with him. We have and will always be supportive of DOT activities.”
In the statement, Tiotuico said SM City Clark’s executives tried to stop the performance of the Pines City National High School’s Teatro Pino on Friday because the performers wore “skimpy attire and therefore are bound to scandalize the children watching the show.”
He attributed that statement to Lana Erroba, SM City Clark assistant mall manager. Erroba, he added, said that to Edith Collado, vice president of the Philippine Exhibits and Parks Corp., the DOT’s partner in the event.
Tiotuico said DOT Cordillera Director Purificacion Molintas condemned the incident and demanded for an apology.
Photo from koolbirks.com
3 comments:
Indeed a bit silly...it is good they apologized!
imagine a filipino native custome being tagged as indecent? how come?
That's crazy!!! I am speechless! This just goes to show that we need more cultural education so that we don't forget who we are.
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