My ninth year in the tourism and hospitality industry has taught me so many lessons in my career. At some point in my life, I enjoy my daily routine and the sense of stability but the challenging circumstances brought by the COVID-19 pandemic has made me better understand the true message of RESILIENCE and RESPONSIBLE LEADERSHIP.

For the past 11 months, COVID 19 has unbelievably brought so many challenges and pains. It had a vast reach in transforming human life at all levels. The pandemic gave a big blow to our tourism industry and it is one of the most vulnerable sectors.

The business suddenly halted. It was swift and we were totally unprepared. As the head of my team, I have been very anxious as to what would be the future of our industry. I have to think of my teammates who depend on their salary. We have all felt the pandemic’s impact during the lockdown and, sadly, it has triggered an alarming economic downturn and this affected the financial aspect of almost all businesses.

Sadly, the beautiful picture we imagined in 2020 was dramatically altered with the onset of the pandemic. Witnessing people lose their job and livelihood, crushed and broke many hearts.

Like the rest of the world, everything’s changed and we were all trapped and, sadly, unequipped. Nobody knows how to deal with this test of time, but in good faith we learned to adapt and accept that this world is no heaven.

Up to this day, this pandemic still brings disruption and hardship in almost every aspect of our lives, but it has also forced to reflect on the ethics of our everyday living, especially the ways we treat each other as we continue to go about our daily survival.

I am not going to deny the fact that my faith and spirit were shaken and tested. There were times when I was on the brink of giving up and had so much self-doubts but at the end of the day with the support of my team, I decided to go with the flow and let God play the music of my life – a life that is destined to lead.

It wasn’t an easy dance tune though , there were complicated steps and at times I lost my rhythm and lost counts, but as a General Manager, it was a matter of ATTITUDE.

I have to be the source of inspiration to my team and establish a positive disposition while keep praying for God’s mercy and guidance. There were questions in my head such as what to do next? How would I restart? Will we be paralyzed for good and do nothing? But I told myself, “No. I will not lose hope and let negativity drag me down.

So, on that same day when I decided to “fight and move on”, I researched and have reviewed all safety protocols issued by the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF), the Departments of Tourism and Health and the Local Government Unit.

I decided to seek help from our head office’s training department and helped devise training programs on safety protocols: We rolled out safety training, we refined our systems and procedures, we intensified our sanitation and disinfection processes, we have done renovation of our facility to adjust to the new requirements or the new normal, we kept ourselves busy, we prepared for the days where we will be able to welcome and host our valued guests safely and responsibly once again ,and, finally, we confidently applied for our Permit to Operate from the DOT.

The road we are taking is still a downer and full of uncertainties. We are still fighting an invisible enemy and that makes the battle disadvantageous to everyone. But, again, instead of feeling down, we have to start, to reopen, to save more jobs, to give hope to our employees, to do things right and responsibly, to focus on the things that we can control, to safely mobilize the team and to do things to overcome given challenges and to continuously prepare for the coming days.

Indeed it still is a challenging chapter for all of us but we have to learn to stay focused, to stick to our goal-driven work ethic, to follow government agencies’ safety guidelines and to be RESILIENT at all cost, because right now we do not have a choice but to soldier on and help combat this pandemic.

Today, I am sharing this in celebration of my ninth year anniversary with the industry that is, unfortunately, for now trying to make ends meet.

With head high, someday I will be sharing all these experiences with much zest, passion and confidence just like our lolos and lolas sharing their WAR STORIES when we were young over and over again (how can I forget that).

Someday, I will be very proud to be one of the wordsmiths of COVID 19 pandemic, I believe that the blueprint we are creating now will be the survival guide of our future generations. For the time being, my goal is clear: whatever the future holds with the grace of God, I am confident that I will be able to etch my name in one of those significant pages.

For now, I will wait patiently for better days to come, wait for the vaccine, wash my hands, wear my face mask and face shield.