House to ‘seek facts’ on tourism ad mess

MANILA, Philippines — After denouncing the Department of Tourism and its ad agency contractor over a tourism promotion video gaffe, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda has mellowed and even promised to help beleaguered DOT Secretary Christina Frasco fix the problem.

“As far as I’m concerned, I should now move on, move forward. My attitude now is really to help her (Frasco), help the DOT because we’re all being hurt here in this incident. I will help her,” Salceda told ANC.

But he stressed the issue must not be swept under the rug, saying an inquiry is necessary.

“When we resume session in Congress, we will seek facts. She is open. We can disagree without malice,” he said. “A congressional inquiry will definitely be inevitable in this case. In the meantime, I don’t think that the flaw is irreversible.” On Monday, the DOT announced the termination of its contract with DDB Philippines after it was found out that the latter had used stock footage of other countries in the promotional video for the “Love the Philippines” tourism rebranding program.

Salceda, chairman of the House ways and means committee, earlier said the scandal would have budgetary consequence for the DOT.

“The conversation should focus on ways forward. I am asking everyone to help her. I would like to summon the collective intellect, energy and innovativeness of the brightest minds in advertising and promotions to help the DOT,” he said in a statement yesterday.

“I asked her to fire the consultant. She did. I asked her to correct mistakes and investigate internally. She did. I asked her to be more inclusive with destinations featured. She did,” he explained.

“I will criticize openly, as needed. That’s my job as a legislator and a representative of my people. But after heated discussions, we must remain focused on solving problems,” Salceda maintained.

“We keep shooting ourselves in our own foot… with this controversy that gets highlighted globally and shows a very difficult position for the Philippines,” he said.

“And once the controversy about this rebranding effort passes, we will still need to fix our airports, our accommodations, our accessibility. So, no, I will not join calls for her to resign. Certainly not when a lot of it is premised on speculation,” Salceda stressed.

“I focused on facts in my criticisms. I want to focus on facts on the solutions,” he added. “The back-and-forth of statements was good for revealing what needs to be improved. But we have to move forward. Let’s genuinely sit down and talk.”

Former senator and tourism chief Richard Gordon praised the “Love the Philippines” slogan but batted for the creation of a new promotional video at the expense of parties involved in the controversy.

He also highlighted the importance of infrastructure development and maintaining credibility in tourism promotions. “Tourism is a story, it’s a story of the local community,” he said.

Gordon acknowledged that the controversy has sparked embarrassment but cautioned against dwelling on it and creating additional controversies.

He said the “WOW Philippines” slogan during his time as a DOT secretary was conceived without the help of an ad agency. He said WOW Philippines had effectively promoted various destinations by emphasizing their unique attractions. — Cecille Suerte Felipe, Mark Ernest Villeza