NETIZENS weighed in on the country’s branding campaign, “We give the world our best. The Philippines,” which showed a divided view on overseas Filipino workers and what appeared to be the government’s labor-export policy.
On one hand, Ally (@lilacalil18) said: “A lot of doctor friends here in the UK say that Filipino nurses are well trained compared to UK-trained ones. Skills are comparable to junior doctors.” The country branding campaign, featuring Filipina-British nurse May Parsons, was quietly rolled out by the Marcos Jr. administration through transit ads on London buses during the Coronation of King Charles III.
On the other hand, Steve (@mancerrss) averred: “We give the world our Best. So there’s no one left back home,” echoing Senator Nancy Binay’s reaction on Tuesday, saying the ad bothered her because “it seems that we are offering the world our nurses—which is a bit off because we are already losing our health workers here.” (See, “Nancy on new country brand: Hanudaw,” in the BusinessMirror, May 9, 2023.) The country brand campaign was rolled out by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Creative Communications (OPACC) headed by popular filmmaker Paul Soriano.
Caught flat-footed
This developed as the Department of Tourism (DOT) finally responded to queries if “the best” was also going to be the tourism slogan. “No, it’s not. It’s the country brand,” said Tourism Undersecretary for Legal and Special Concerns Mae Elaine T. Bathan, who is in charge of Branding efforts in the department. She did not say, though, when the new tourism slogan will be launched, although government sources who requested anonymity hinted that if the slogan will indeed be changed, this will be launched “definitely within the year.”
The DOT has already dropped the decade-old “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” slogan in its collaterals, although many tourism stakeholders continue to use it in their materials, and have been pushing for its retention.
The same government sources added the DOT was also “caught flat-footed” by the launch of the new country brand. Although regular meetings have been held between key OPACC and DOT officials, the sources averred that there was no mention of when the country brand will actually be launched. The sources underscored that “DOT did not contribute any funds” to the launch of the country brand. (See, “From ‘fun’ to ‘the best’: PHL bares new country brand,” in the BusinessMirror, May 9, 2023.)
Earlier, Soriano said other government agencies, including the DOT, would come up with their own versions of “the best” country brand, which led many to believe that it would now be the tourism slogan.
Thankful Nurse Parsons
On Monday, Nurse Parsons (@mayparsons) posted the bus ad and tweeted: “I hope that by seeing this, my brothers and sisters, Filipino nurses, feel seen, not just in the UK but in the world. Let’s get heard.” She tagged the Twitter accounts of Marcos Jr., the Official Gazette, Ambassador to the Court of St. James Teodoro L. Locsin Jr., the Philippine Embassy in the United Kingdom, several Filipino nurses associations in the UK, British Ambassador to the Philippines Laure Beaufils and her embassy and thanked them.
Meanwhile, a politician who declined to be identified said, “The ad is questionable because we’re saying, ‘We give the world our best,’ but when tourists arrive in the Philippines, our airports show the world our worst.”
Troubles have been plaguing the Ninoy Aquino International Airport from power outages and technical glitches affecting the air traffic control system to corruption among the ranks of baggage handlers, Immigration officers, and Customs personnel assigned to the terminals.
Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista said he was looking at UK’s Gatwick Airport as a “template for operations” in a bid to improve Naia’s services. Bautista recently accompanied Marcos Jr. on a tour of the airport, which was built in 1958, and served close to 33 million passengers in 2022.