Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda

Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda is calling on the Department of Tourism (DOT) to redo its tourism campaign using a consultative method employed by the previous Duterte administration.

This, as the Bicolano expressed Monday afternoon, July 3 that he was ready to "move forward" from the DOT's "Love the Philippines" promotional campaign, which he has had serious problems with.

“The country must gain something productive from these heated discussions,” Salceda said, as he suggested “nationwide consultations with tourism stakeholders on how to really rebrand and restart the country’s tourism sector".

“We used to do that a lot in the past. We did Sulong Pilipinas for the general direction of the country’s government," he said.

“Let’s do Sulong Turismo. Let’s consult the stakeholders nationwide on the six As of tourism: Attractions, Accessibility, Amenities, Available Packages, Activities, and Ancillary Services. If I may add two particular points: Airport and Airlines. All our fiercest competitors have beautiful airports and top-tier airlines,” noted Salceda, who has obviously given the matter much thought already.

He described "Sulong Pilipinas" as “an annual consultative conference that brings together different stakeholders from all over the country".

He said the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte explained it as “a platform through which the government can provide updates on our country’s achievements".

"More importantly, Sulong is a way through which the administration receives feedback on its proposed plans and programs," noted Salceda, chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means.

“That’s how Dutertenomics was born. That’s where Build, Build, Build came from. Comprehensive Tax Reform Program, Ease of Doing Business Act, Rice Tariffication, the Universal Health Care Law – all came from those consultations,” he said.

"That shot off to Sulong Agricultura and Sulong Edukasyon, where government agencies would consult their stakeholders closely and seriously. At the end of each consultation, you had actionable points that were submitted to the President to be given the highest priority," he further recalled.

Salceda began to beef with the DOT after its new promotional video for the country--which tied into the Love the Philippines campaign--failed to include any imagery of Mayon Volcano.

The currently restive volcano is Albay's top tourism draw. Salceda is passionate about this, being a former three term governor of the province.

Over the weekend, news broke out that DDB Philippines, the agency contracted for the production of the promotional video, used stock footage from tourist destinations of other countries and made it appear that they were shot in the Philippines. The contractor has since apologized.

"Clearly, the exclusion of Mayon and other tourist attractions intrinsic to the Philippine brand was just a symptom of 'trabahong tamad' (lazy person's work) that is now evident to everyone," Salceda said Sunday, July 2.

The DOT, for its part, has said that there's more to its campaign than just one video. As for the stock footage issue, it said that it is now investigating the matter.

Salceda said Monday that "the back-and-forth of statements was good for revealing what needs to be improved. But we have to move forward. Let’s genuinely sit down and talk."