Village Connect
Tourism industry veteran Roberto “Bob” Zozobrado officially assumed the role of General Manager and Chief Operating Officer of the Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA), an attached agency of the Department Tourism (DOT), in an oath-taking ceremony officiated by Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco during the agency’s special meeting on Thursday (Feb. 15) at the DOT Central Office.
“𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘳. 𝘉𝘰𝘣 𝘡𝘰𝘻𝘰𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘰, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘔𝘳. 𝘡𝘰𝘻𝘰𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘰’𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵’𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺, 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘰,” Secretary Frasco said during the special meeting convened to officially swear in Zozobrado.
Zozobrado, renowned for his extensive experience in the tourism industry, has held various roles in the aviation and hospitality sectors. He is a columnist, and was a former public relations specialist, director of sales, and marketing consultant.
Before his appointment at the PRA, Zozobrado served as the President of the Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP) and was instrumental in formalizing a memorandum of understanding that automatically inducted newly accredited travel and tourism establishments as TCP members.
“𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘍𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘰𝘴, 𝘑𝘳. 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳. 𝘐 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺. 𝘔𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺—𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴, 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮. 𝘚𝘰, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘱 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦. 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦,” shared the newly minted PRA chief.
“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘙𝘈 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘖𝘛 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘚𝘰, 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘙𝘈’𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵. 𝘔𝘺 𝘗𝘙𝘈 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘓𝘖𝘝𝘌 𝘛𝘖 𝘓𝘐𝘝𝘌 𝘐𝘕 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘗𝘏𝘐𝘓𝘐𝘗𝘗𝘐𝘕𝘌𝘚,” affirmed GM Zozobrado.
Before his role as TCP president, he chaired the Philippines chapter of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), another national tourism association. Zozobrado is also named as a member of the PRA Board of Trustees.
The Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) is a government-owned and controlled corporation created by virtue of Executive Order No. 1037, signed by former President Ferdinand E. Marcos on 04 July 1985.
According to its website, on 31 August 2001, through Executive Order No. 26, the control and supervision of PRA was transferred to the Board of Investments (BOI) – Department of Trade and Industry from the Office of the President.
On 12 May 2009, Republic Act No. 9593, otherwise known as Tourism Act of 2009, PRA became an attached agency of the Department of Tourism and placed under the supervision of the Secretary.
PRA is mandated to develop and promote the Philippines as a retirement haven as a means of accelerating the social and economic development of the country, strengthening its foreign exchange position at the same time providing further best quality of life to the targeted retirees in a most attractive package.
DOT Secretary Frasco chairs the PRA Board of Trustees, with Tourism Undersecretary Ferdinand Jumapao as the alternate chair.
Officer-in-charge (OIC) Undersecretary Verna Buensuceso, represented by OIC Assistant Secretary Warner Andrada, joined the ex-officio members and board of trustees during the special meeting. The agenda encompassed diverse topics, including a comprehensive research study, the corporate operating budget, and pressing concerns of the agency.
| Philippine Retirement Authority – PRA
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