The House of Representatives, through the initiative of the House Committee on Tourism, has launched the “It’s a Mask” online campaign to encourage the public to wear masks and promote proper health and safety protocols.
House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano lauded the project that was conceptualized by Reps. Sol Aragones (NPC, Laguna) and Sharon S. Garin (AAMBIS-OWA partylist), chairperson of the House Committee on Tourism and Economic Affairs, respectively.
Aragones said the campaign was launched under CONG-TOUR or Congressional Tour, the domestic tourism promotion program initiated last November 2019 by the tourism panel.
Part of the public awareness campaign is the “It’s a Mask” online poster making contest which is open to the public. The objective is encourage individuals to create posters that would capture the theme “Wearing Masks, Physical Distancing, and Frequent Hand-Washing Save Lives Against COVID 19.”
Aragones explained that the campaign is a public health promotion project geared towards building public confidence that would greatly benefit both the public and private sector, in anticipation of more intensified opening of other economic activities, especially in the tourism industry, despite the current pandemic.
The campaign title “It’s a Mask” is a play on the words of the expression “It’s a must.” Aragones said this emphasizes the importance of following health and safety rules set by government in the fight against the COVID 19 pandemic.
Simultaneous with the campaign launch, an Online Poster Making Contest is also opened inviting the public to create a poster that captures the theme “Wearing Masks, Physical Distancing, and Frequent Hand-Washing Save Lives Against COVID-19.” The contest aims to encourage people from all ages to participate in the campaign and to reach as many people as possible through public participation and cooperation, a kind of “bayanihan” where people from different economic classes, sector, and age can promote public health and safety.
The “It’s a Mask” poster making contest offers cash prizes of up to P25,000 for winners.
Contest details and mechanics will be posted on Monday at the CONG-TOUR Facebook and can be accessed by clicking the link: https://www.facebook.com/CongressionalTour.
Board of judges include Reps. Angelina “Helen” D.L. Tan (NPC, Quezon); Lucy Torres-Gomez (NP, Leyte); Stella Luz Quimbo (LP, Marikina City); and Christopher de Venecia (PDP-Laban, Pangasinan) and Assistant Secrertary Howard Lance Uyking of the Department of Tourism. Aragones and Garin are also members.