Mindanao execs told: Brace for La Niña

 El Niño. During the event at Universidad de Zamboanga in Zamboanga City, the President also asked Mindanao officials to prepare for heavy rains and flooding when La Niña hits. —MALACAÑANG PHOTO

By: Julie Alipala, Melvin Gascon - @inquirerdotnet

Inquirer Mindanao / 05:06 AM May 10, 2024

ZAMBOANGA CITY—Amid the long dry spell caused by the El Niño phenomenon, President Marcos on Thursday told local officials in Mindanao to brace for the onset of another extreme weather event, La Niña.

“The world is facing a great challenge due to climate change. We are experiencing extreme weather. Today, we endure intense heat but in the coming months, expect heavy rainfall,” the President, speaking in Filipino, told some 10,000 people who gathered at the Universidad de Zamboanga gymnasium where he led the distribution of aid to farmers and fishers whose livelihood were disrupted by the drought and dry spell.

“This is why I’m calling on the local governments of Zamboanga and its nearby areas in the region: Be prepared at all times. Seek out our constituents and learn about their needs. Implement programs that will truly help our countrymen,” he added.

La Niña often follows El Niño, a phenomenon that the state weather bureau expects to wind down by June and give way to the rainy season.

The President assured his audience that the national government was prepared to face La Niña, as he urged local governments to heighten their readiness.

Mr. Marcos handed out at least P60 million in aid to drought-hit families in the Zamboanga Peninsula region and called on local government officials to seek out those needing help and make sure government aid to ease the impact of El Niño would reach them.

Each beneficiary, according to Department of Social Welfare and Development regional spokesperson Ivan Eric Salvador, will receive P10,000.

Mr. Marcos assured the people of Mindanao that the national government would be ready to extend its help to local government officials seeking government assistance for the damage wrought by El Niño on people’s livelihood.“We are also calling on all those affected by the severe drought to get in touch with their local governments to make known their needs and their problems acted upon,” he said.

Two of Zamboanga Peninsula’s 67 towns, and one of five cities have been placed under a state of calamity due to losses incurred as a result of El Niño. Official data showed that a total of 66,878 families or 334,391 people in 165 barangays were affected as of May 7.

Throughout the region, at least 3,000 hectares of farms were wilted by the extreme heat.Nationwide, the President noted that 3.6 million people were gravely affected by the drought that destroyed close to P6-billion worth of crops, mostly rice and corn, and aquaculture products.

Zamboanga Sibugay Gov. Ann Hofer said her province was severely affected by the drought, especially that only 40 percent of farms enjoy irrigation service.

“This assistance coming from the President is a big help,” she said, adding that this would complement the P20,000 given as aid to rice farmers by the provincial government.

Aside from the cash assistance given directly to farmers and fishermen, Mr. Marcos released checks to the local governments of Zamboanga City worth P10 million; Zamboanga Sibugay, P20.3 million; Zamboanga del Sur, P14.35 million; and Zamboanga del Norte, P14.26 million.

DOT ends deal with ad firm over promo fiasco

 

By: Dona Z. Pazzibugan, Julie M. Aurelio, Melvin Gascon - @inquirerdotnet

Sen. Nancy Binay and House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro urge tourism department to ensure accountability following controversy involving foreign video clips, noting that taxpayer money is used to fund its projects.

MANILA, Philippines — Just two days after it announced that it was conducting an investigation, the Department of Tourism (DOT) abruptly ended its contract with DDB Group Philippines on Monday after the advertising agency apologized for using stock footage of other countries in the video launching the country’s “Love the Philippines” tourism campaign.

In a statement, the DOT pointed to DDB’s “abject failure” to comply with its obligations under the P49-million contract after the agency “admitted in no uncertain terms” that the materials used in the promotional video were not original.

The almost two-minute-long video featuring popular travel destinations in the country was shown at the June 27 launch of the newest tourism campaign that replaced the “It’s more fun in the Philippines” branding that had been in use since 2012.

But netizens pointed out that some clips were of tourist sites in other countries, including a fisherman in Thailand, an airport runway in Switzerland, rice terraces in Indonesia, and sand dunes in the United Arab Emirates.

In deciding to terminate the contract for the new tourism campaign, the DOT cited its right “to change, suspend, or discontinue temporarily or permanently the contract at any time should [it] deem the agency incapable of [carrying out] the project.”

It stressed that no payments had been made to DDB, adding that it would “review standards of performance or lack thereof” should the agency submit a claim.

The DOT did not comment, however, on whether it would retain the “Love the Philippines” campaign created by the ad agency.

Asked for comment on the termination of the contract, DDB said it had “no statement” on the issue.

Lawmakers from both the Senate and House of Representatives were quick to weigh in on the controversy with Sen. Nancy Binay calling it a “bad omen” for the revamped tourism campaign.

Binay, chair of the Senate committee on tourism, said the DOT, headed by Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco, should ensure that heads would roll since people’s money was being used for such projects. But at the same time, she also took the department to task for its “lapses.”

“The DOT cannot afford to be negligent about campaigns like this which are worth millions [of pesos]. [It] should also be more discerning and critical [of] pegs, concepts, storyboards, and drafts that ad agencies present to them,” she said.

Binay lamented how the initial salvo of the DOT’s new campaign suffered a “major setback,” saying the controversy might drive away visitors, instead of attracting them.

She suggested that the DOT consider retaining the “It’s more fun in the Philippines” slogan, saying, “Perhaps it will still be better to bring back the ‘Fun’ because of the problem faced by ‘Love.’”

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III, on the other hand, touched on the irony of using foreign footage to promote the Philippines.

“[It’s] very disappointing due to the very unprofessional work using stock video footage. ‘Love the Philippines’ is the idea, yet we were proudly showing Indonesian, Thai, Swiss, and Emirati tourist attractions,” he said.

At the same time, he jested that the video could also affirm the government’s thrust to be a “friend to all nations,” adding that it may be “our expression of our friendliness to all nations. We promote them also in our promotional videos about the Philippines.”

‘Scammed’

For Sen. Grace Poe, chair of the Senate Committee on Public Services, the government and the public were “scammed” by the DOT advertisement.

“It’s frustrating to know that even the government can fall victim to blunders in a marketing campaign that supposedly aims to promote the Philippines’ unique character, natural beauty, and cultural attractions,” she said.

House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro expressed a similar sentiment, saying the video and slogan were a form of “budol” or swindle, as she called on the DOT to rectify the matter by conducting an investigation and filing appropriate charges.

“We cannot allow this kind of ‘budol’ or swindling of our people. The DOT should be also probed because it is wasting the people’s money and it is a shame to the international community,” Castro said in a statement.

For Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, the House ways and means panel chair, the video and “Love the Philippines” logo—which excluded Mayon Volcano in his home province of Albay — was a “symptom of trabahong tamad” or shoddy work.

Salceda earlier criticized the DOT for what he perceived as a snub.

“The first video was supposedly a ‘mood video,’ according to the contractor. For something as critical as an entire country’s image, you don’t ‘set the mood’ with plagiarism,” he said.

Apparently referring to independent opposition lawmaker and fellow Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman’s remark that his complaint was just “political sound bite,” Salceda stressed that legitimate concerns of legislative representatives should not be brushed aside.

“One lesson here is not to dismiss legitimate concerns as ‘political sound bites’ but to listen, consult and discuss. The country’s branding is reflective of our identity and aspirations as a people. What’s wrong with wanting to be represented well in that?” he said.

Track record

Incorporated in 1992, DDB Group Philippines is a full-service marketing communications group with advertising, digital, media, PR, content, and data analytics agencies.

Its forerunner was the Advertising Marketing Associates founded in 1958 by Antonio de Joya, known as the “Dean of Philippine Advertising.”

DDB had bagged other government projects before, including several with the DOT.

At the 19th Philippine Quill Awards in 2022, it won several awards under the competition’s communication management division for the following campaigns: the “Resbakuna” campaign of the Department of Health, the “Our Sea, Our Story” campaign for the DOT’s Philippine International Dive Expo 2021, and the DOT’s “Balikan ang Pilipinas” campaign.