The new Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines (ATOP) National Board of Officers took their oath yesterday before Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco. We thank the good Secretary for warmly welcoming us to the DOT Central Office and for her commitment to support our organization. As the Executive Vice President and Legal Officer of the ATOP, I had the pleasure of lobbying with the Secretary, on behalf of the whole board, for support on the need to institutionalize tourism offices at the local level, to include the proposal for mandatory tourism officer positions, which we hope will be translated into a law that gives tourism officers security of tenure, a right that protects them from being unjustly terminated from their position.