Vice guv backs DOT ad campaign

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

THE latest tourism slogan, “It’s more Fun in the Philippines,” gained the approval of Cebu Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale.

“If it fits to the status of the Philippines, why can’t we adopt it?” Magpale, the tourism chairperson at the Provincial Board (PB), said during a press conference.

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Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, for her part, said there are those who will be for the new slogan of the Department of Tourism (DOT), while others will be against it.

What is important, she said, is that Filipinos are all one in promoting the country.

When the DOT launched the current campaign slogan, it drew criticism for a number of reasons, including allegations it was copied from Switzerland’s tourism campaign in 1951.

Coincidence

DOT Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. brushed aside criticisms, and said the similarity to the Switzerland slogan was just a coincidence and that slogans can’t be copyrighted.

Governor Garcia said Filipinos may have diverging and conflicting views, but what “we should project is a unified front.”

“It’s not your taste or their taste. It’s all about what is good for our country,” she said, adding that the campaign will be good for all of us.

Apart from tourism issues, a bill pending before the United States Congress that could threaten the multi-billion-dollar business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in the Philippines has got Cebu’s officials concerned.

Vice Governor Magpale echoed the need for public officials to lobby against US House Bill 3596, or the “Call Center and Consumers Protection Bill.” President Barack Obama earlier expressed support for the bill, as he pushed for “insourcing” and urged American businessmen to keep jobs in their country.

The bill proposes, among others, to deny outsourcing companies federal loans and incentives and to penalize call center companies that do not disclose their agents’ location.

Industries

Cebu hosts a number of BPO firms, especially call centers. Alongside the outsourcing boom is the mushrooming of local businesses, including retail, food and beverage, recreation and entertainment, and real estate, among others.

PB Member Arleigh Sitoy said he will pass a resolution requesting the National Government to give tax incentives to call centers, just in case the US anti-call center bill will be passed.

“My position is to make our call centers competitive by way of tax incentives, holidays and moratorium,” Sitoy said.

He understands that the US economy is “not at its best of health” and since he has to address the problem of unemployment and recession, Obama has to increase productivity by developing domestic opportunities, Sitoy said.

Governor Garcia, for her part, urged her countrymen to concentrate on their best talents instead of relying on the US market.

“Filipinos have talent to meet all challenges in the industry,” she said as she urged everybody to continue to improve their craft and their quest for excellence.

She said the US is not the country’s only BPO client, as we also have clients in Europe and other parts of the globe.