MANILA, Philippines - “It was a surreal moment when an APC [armored personnel carrier] barged into the hotel," recalled Mariano Garchitorena, spokesperson of the Peninsula Manila hotel. He was referring to the incident one year ago when the hotel was flocked by mutineers against the Arroyo administration on November 29, 2007. While the stand-off was put under control within the day, the hotel sustained damages, both physical and financial. For instance, the main entrance knocked down by the APC was only opened in April 2008. As gun shots scarred parts of the Peninsula’s walls with bullet holes, management was prompted to transfer their guests to other hotels and postpone a wedding set for the night of the siege. All in all, it took an estimated P12 million to renovate the Peninsula Manila after the siege, but Garchitorena said the whole incident resulted in a slower than expected Christmas season for the hotel. “The last quarter of the year has always been a strong one for The Peninsula but the November 29 incident impacted negatively on us," he added. However, business started picking up again in the first quarter of 2008. “It’s hard to put a good lady down," Garchitorena added, quoting one of the hotel guests. The 2007 military uprising is now just a small part of the hotel’s 32-year history. It opened in 1976 to accommodate delegates to an International Monetary Fund conference.
Next: Siege belittled as a “hiccup" in RP’s tourism sector Siege belittled as a “hiccup" in RP’s tourism sector The Department of Tourism (DoT) said the Peninsula siege in 2007 brought “nothing but a hiccup" in the Philippines’ thriving tourism industry. “The people now are very sophisticated in their travels. They do not allow politics to bother them," Tourism Undersecretary Eduardo Jarque Jr said in a separate interview. It may be recalled that about two weeks prior to the Peninsula siege, a bombing incident took several lives at the House of Representatives. In October, a blast also left fatalities at the Glorietta Mall in Makati City. Despite such incidents which could have deterred tourists from visiting the Philippines, the DoT still managed to meet its 3.1 million tourist arrival target for 2007. Jarque said the Peninsula issue did not in any way affect the impression of tourists on Philippine hotels. “Hotels are still doing very well. It is still positive until Christmas and in January when the Chinese celebrate the new year," he added. Next: Philippine business unaffected by mutiny Philippine business unaffected by mutiny While the Peninsula siege happened right at the heart of the country’s main business district, businessmen seemed unperturbed by the mutiny. Philippine Stock Exchange data showed that the benchmark index rose 1.17 percent on to 3,578.55 points on November 29, 2007. On the same day, the peso gained 11 centavos and closed at P42.750 against the dollar. An incident similar to the Peninsula siege in 2007 will not likely shake the business community as everyone is more focused on the impact of the global economic crisis, Makati Business Club Executive Director Alberto A. Lim said. “Even before the Peninsula incident, foreign direct investments did not look very good. Today, money is going out because of the global crisis," Lim added. He also said foreign investors have other concerns in considering the Philippines as an investment site, such as governance, the availability of infrastructure and the cost of labor. However, Lim noted that the business community does not support moves which are not accordance with the law. "We might agree with the reason but not with the method," Lim said. - GMANews.TV 
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