DOT urged to seek apology from Indonesian tourism chief over PH video claim

Senator Nancy Binay on Tuesday challenged the Department of Tourism to seek an apology from Indonesian Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno over the latter’s claim that he saw an Indonesian rice paddy in a DOT travel video.

On July 4, the Jakarta Globe published an article that said the Indonesian tourism official “recalled watching the video titled ‘Love the Philippines’ during a recent event in Cambodia and being intrigued by the paddy field scenery.”

The news report quoted Uno saying, “I thought to myself, ‘It looks like an Indonesian scenery.’”

The DOT video was allegedly presented at the United Nations’ World Tourism Organization meeting in Cambodia, which Tourism Secretary Cristina Frasco, who was testifying before the Senate on Tuesday said was held before the launch of the controversial “Love the Philippines” video ad.

Binay posed the challenge to Frasco after the Tourism chief denied that they presented video which allegedly has the same rice paddy scenery in Indonesia.

“The video that was shown during the dinner hosted by the Philippine government in UNWTO was a video that was made in house and did not use any of the [footage] that were used in the video launched to support the tourism branding,” Frasco said.

The DOT chief added that Uno's comment was on July 4 or after the June 27 launching of the “Love the Philippines” promotional video.

Frasco categorically denied showing photos of Indonesia during the dinner hosted by the Philippines during the UNWTO meeting in Cambodia.

The “Love the Philippines” tourism campaign audiovisual presentation was heavily criticized for using foreign stock footage.

Given Frasco's denial, Binay said that the Uno’s statement was “insulting” and “very damaging” for the Philippine tourism promotion efforts.

“I think ha, if you’re standing by that statement, [Uno] should apologize to us,” said Binay, chairperson of the Senate Tourism Committee. “Kasi he is lying, based on your statements.”

Recognizing Binay’s concern, Frasco said they would seek the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Executive Department's advice regarding the senator’s request for the DOT to issue a statement denying Uno’s claims.

Before they ended the discussion, Binay also urged Frasco to write Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo to call out Indonesia over their tourism chief’s statement.

Frasco said that the DOT would provide the Senate Finance Committee a copy of the letter before the plenary deliberations on the DOT's budget. — DVM, GMA Integrated News