Some senators on Monday, July 3 expressed their dismay at the Department of Tourism’s (DOT) use of “non-original/stock footage” of travel destinations in other countries for the promotional video of “Love the Philippines” campaign. Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara said the DOT should redo the whole campaign video considering that the government spent P49-million for the new tourism slogan. “They should at the very least redo the campaign video. Parang nalugi ang gobyerno. Dapat may konting pride tayo sa ating trabaho (The government seems to have lost money. We should have some pride for our job) especially if we are selling and marketing the Philippines,” Angara said. Sen. Maria Lourdes Nancy Binay, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Tourism, said it is unfortunate that the initial salvo of DOT's new campaign suffered a major setback, just a few days after it was officially launched. “This is not the first time that the DOT and its agencies drew flak from netizens because of some creative lapses. Dapat may accountability dahil pera ng taumbayan ang ginagastos ng DOT para bayaran ang mga ad agencies (We expect accountability because it’s public money that was used by the DOT to pay these ad agencies),” Binay said. Binay said she expects Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco to correct the promotional video, saying she is worried that this latest fiasco would taint the country’s image in the international community. “We expect Sec. Frasco to make right whatever went wrong, and ensure that the integrity of our brand will not be diminished due to an 'oversight’,” she said. “Hindi rin dapat nagpapabaya ang DOT sa ganitong multi-milyong pisong kampanya (DOT shouldn’t be negligent especially with multi-million campaigns like this). The DOT should also be more discerning and critical on pegs, concepts, storyboards, and drafts that ad agencies present to them. May lapses din sa bahagi ng kliyente (Were there lapses on the part of the client)? Di nga ba, we are supposed to show authenticity?” she pointed out. Binay reiterated that any promotional anomaly directly affects the travelers’ decisions, and at the same time portrays a negative image of how the government promote its destinations. “Sa ngayon, may bahid na ng pagdududa kung anuman ang susunod na TV ad o promotional material ng DOT. At tila masamang pangitain ito dahil mukhang di pa rin po tayo natututo sa mga nakaraang nangyari dala ng hindi original logo, slogan, design o video clip (Right now, there is a tinge of doubt as to what the next TV ad or promotional material of the DOT will be. And it seems like a bad omen because it seems that we still don't learn from the past with non-original logos, slogans, designs or video clips),” the senator pointed out. “The paramount task is to ensure that there will be no pause in promoting our destinations despite the snag. Baka pwede pa naman ibalik si 'Fun' dahil sa problema ni 'Love' ngayon (Maybe we can return to the ‘Fun’ because we have a problem with ‘Love’ right now),” she suggested. Prior to launching the “Love the Philippines” campaign last June 28, the Philippines’ tourism campaign used to be “It’s More Fun in the Philippines!” and “Wow, Philippines!” Frasco, in a statement, released late Saturday, said the DOT has launched an exhaustive investigation on DDB Philippines, the ad agency contracted by the department, to determine the veracity on the originality of the footages used in the promotional video.