ASEAN welcome tarps with misspelled 'Philippines' did not follow guidelines

^{Photo by Danny Pata}

The word "Philippines" missed an "i" in a batch of tarpaulin banners welcoming world leaders coming into the country for the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit.

The inscription on the tarp banners said: "WELCOME to the Philppines! ASEAN Delegates."

As of this posting , the banners have been taken down as these did not comply with the approved guidelines for display, the ASEAN 2017 National Organizing Committee (NOC) clarified on Friday.

"The exact tarpaulins or billboards pinned in areas leading to the Mall of Asia Complex did not conform to the approved final artwork," the NOC said in a statement read by Presidential Communications Assistant Secretary Kris Ablan during a briefing at the ASEAN International Media Center in Pasay City.

Ablan stressed that the ASEAN 2017 Committee on Media Affairs and Strategic Communications artworks undergo specific brand guidelines before being approved for final roll-out nationwide.

"We are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding the distribution and display of the subject tarpaulins or billboards," the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) official said.

"These are neither printed or distributed by the PCOO, the Philippine Information Agency, TIEZA (Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority), the MMDA (Metropolitan Manila Development Authority) or the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways)," Ablan added.

"We have directed the immediate removal of the subject tarpaulins or billboards."

The Department of the Interior and Local Government-National Capital Region has removed and replaced the banners in question,

Ablan said that the DILG-NCR in a statement claimed responsibility for the posting of the banners with wrong spelling.

US President Donald Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chinese Premiere Li Keqiang, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are among the dialogue partners expected to arrive in the Philippines for ASEAN activities to be held from November 11 to 14. —with a report from Margaret Claire Layug/LBG, GMA News