Makabayan Bloc seeks House probe on stock footage in ‘Love the Philippines’ video

Lawmakers belonging to the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives on Monday filed a resolution seeking a congressional inquiry into the use of stock footage in the recently launched "Love the Philippines" tourism campaign.

In their proposed House Resolution 1115, House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro of ACT Teachers party-list, House Assistant Minority Leader Arlene Brosas of Gabriela party-list, and Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel said an inquiry was in order after the  Department of Tourism terminated its contract with the advertising agency DDB Philippines.

“While the DOT stressed that no public funds have been paid for the video, Congress should investigate the matter and if there are lapses in appropriate laws, rules, and regulations, especially since billions of public funds and resources are allotted for such rebranding," the proposed resolution read.

"Congress is duty-bound to ensure that public funds are used efficiently and effectively and that government agencies are held accountable for their actions,” it added.

Under the DOT's appropriations for 2023, P1.27 billion DOT has been set aside for its branding campaign program. The amount accounts for 37.3% of the budget of the DOT-Office of the Secretary.

The said budget is also  3.1 times higher than the previous year’s budget worth P309.575 million.

The proposed resolution asked that the House "through its  Committee on Tourism and Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, investigate, in aid of legislation, the controversy on the Branding Campaign Program of the Department of Tourism and the video promoting Philippine tourism that uses foreign stock footage."

DDB Philippines has apologized for the use of non-original content and called it an unfortunate oversight. The DOT still decided to terminate its contract. 

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. said on Friday that Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco still had his trust and confidence. 

“I spoke to her... Nakita ko naman mabilis ang galaw niya (I saw that she was decisive in addressing the issue.)

The “Love the Philippines” campaign replaced the “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” slogan, which has been the country’s tourism slogan since 2012.

Frasco has also said that the DOT will stick with the “Love the Philippines” campaign despite the stock video fiasco. —NB, GMA Integrated News