Tourism poster with Banaue Rice Terraces in wrong province goes viral

A Department of Tourism poster promoting one of the Philippines’ most famous travel destinations has gone viral for all the wrong reasons.

A billboard poster displayed at Terminal 4 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) invited the public to visit the Banaue Rice Terraces in Benguet.

But the world-renowned National Cultural Treasure is in the province of Ifugao. 

In his report on 24 Oras on Monday, Nico Waje said archaeologist Stephen Acabado took notice of the error and decided to take a photograph which he shared on social media.    

The image spread like wildfire and earned a variety of comments from amused and bemused netizens.

“Buti raw at lumapit para mas madaling mapuntahan,” said one commenter.

(This is good since its easier to visit.)

Another person said, “Kaya pala hirap siyang makita eh nalipat na pala.”

(So that’s why I can’t find it, it’s been transferred.)

And another said, “O baka naman daw may Benguet branch.”

(Maybe there’s a branch in Benguet.)

The glaring error brought back memories when the Mayon Volcano in Albay was mistakenly placed in Naga. It too went viral.

Acabado said he was surprised when he saw the advertisement since he conducted a study of the Banaue Rice Terraces as part of his career. 

“Noong una kong nakita natuwa ako dahil I worked in Ifugao. It’s a bit frustrating, a natural heritage site but hindi natin alam o hindi accurate ang location information,” Acabado told GMA Integrated News.

(When I first saw it I was glad since I worked in Ifugao. It’s a bit frustrating, a natural heritage site but we don’t know where it is or the location information is inaccurate.)

“Pero bigla akong nagulat nang makita ko bakit Benguet?”, he added. 

Acabado sent the photo to Marlon Martin, the chief operating officer of Save the Ifugao Terraces Movement.

“Nagpo-promote ng tourism. E baka may napunta na nga ng Benguet naghahanap ng Rice Terraces. Kawawa naman ang turista,” Martin said.

(They’re promoting tourism. Some might go to Benguet looking for the Rice Terraces. Poor tourists.) 

To rectify the error, Martin in turn passed the photo to the regional director of Ifugao Tourism so the mistake could be reported to the main office of the Tourism Dept.  

The advertisement has since been removed but not before earning some disappointment from its stakeholders.

“Hindi naman ngayon lang 'yan. Ang tagal na ‘yun e. I think three times na ‘yun e. Every now and then may magkakamali. I-correct nila bago nila ilabas,” said Ifugao Governor Jerry Dalipog.

(This is not the first time this has happened. I think three times. Every now and then someone makes a mistake. They should correct it before releasing it.)

“Imagine the Department of Tourism hindi alam anong pinaglalagay. Accountability rin ng mga officials natin kahit pa sabihin na may contractor na gumawa nyan ‘di ba? Pero look out nila ‘yun,” Martin added.

(Imagine the Department of Tourism has no idea what they put out. Our o fficials should be accountable even though they might say contractors made this, right? They should have been on the look out.)

The DOT has not made any statement regarding the erroneous ad that is part of its “Love the Philippines” campaign.

In 2023, the AVP that was used during the launch of the said campaign earned criticism for using stock footage taken from other countries to depict the Philippines.  

The DOT apologized for the error. —RF, GMA Integrated News