Experience the Philippines

It is evident nowadays that there are people who are trying to smear the image of the Philippines in the eyes of the international community through unfounded accusations and black propaganda. Remember the multiple Senate hearings initiated by some Senators to attack the President, which has failed because of insufficient evidence? Remember the exaggerated numbers of supposed victims of drug related killings, that was used even by the international media, and have been refuted when our government revealed the real numbers in the war on drugs? Now, it’s also clear that what’s happening in Marawi and the declaration of Martial Law are being used to present a negative image of our country. Some use the declaration of Martial Law to resume their attack on the President and introduce their own belief that this will be a repeat of what happened in the Martial Law during Marcos’ time. However, they seem to exclude the fact that the 1987 Constitution was framed in a way to inhibit that part of our history from happening again and certain safeguards have been put in place to ensure it. There are certain politicians and people who present themselves like they are fighting for the country by going against Martial Law, but if we look closely at what they are doing and their intentions, we will see that it is also our country that suffers, our tourism also suffers.

In our program Digong Diaries Special last Sunday, we got a chance to talk to Department of Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo and Undersecretary Kat De Castro. Through the program we cleared some issues surrounding the department and we also got an update on the status of tourism in our country. The Tourism Secretary said that even with the declaration of Martial Law, it is still business as usual in Mindanao and that some foreigners were more afraid of the ISIS than the Martial Law. However, the Secretary also mentioned that there were some who cancelled their trip to the Philippines probably out of fear when Martial Law was declared. This is one of the things I would like to call attention to because I feel like this is an effect of negative news. Let’s make it clear that Martial Law itself does not connote “abuse the people.” The Constitution itself gave the President the power to declare Martial Law in cases of invasion or rebellion when the public safety requires it; and, for me, this is the focus of President Duterte’s declaration of Martial Law: Public safety. It was declared to ensure the safety of everyone in Mindanao, including foreigners who are visiting our country.

On Nickelodeon theme park

This issue has been controversial because a lot of environment advocates have opposed such a plan especially if it will contribute to the destruction of our mother nature. Now issues have been raised that the DOT Secretary herself has given approval to the said plan to build a theme park in Coron, Palawan. However, in our interview with her, she clarified that it is not their department who will issue a permit for the planned theme park to push through. The mandate of the Department of Tourism, as the secretary stated, is only to promote. The ball is in the court of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the local government of Palawan on whether they will approve the project or not.

UNWTO conference on statistics

Secretary Teo also revealed that there will be a United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) conference on statistics on June 21 to 23, wherein tourism ministers from all over the world, who are members of the UNWTO, will visit our country. According to the Secretary, the advantage of this is that this is an opportunity for the tourism ministers to see that it is safe in the Philippines and promote Philippines as a tourist destination. Aside from the conference, the secretary also mentioned the possibility of our country hosting another Miss Universe in November but this is still being studied by their department.

Experience the Philippines, it’s more fun in the Philippines

Undersecretary Kat De Castro also clarified that they will not change the slogan “It’s more fun in the Philippines,” they just came up with another slogan for the new ad of the DOT: Experience the Philippines, it’s more fun in the Philippines. They came up with this new slogan to make it suitable to our current situation wherein there’s a lot of negative news about our country. The new ad of the department and the new slogan is intended to encourage foreigners to visit the Philippines. In the Undersecretary’s own words:

Kahit ano man yung naririnig nila about sa Pilipinas, why don’t they come to the Philippines to experience it for themselves kung ano ngayon ang Pilipinas, how it is to be with Filipinos.