It should be more fun for us #itsMoreFunInThePhilippines

by Luisa Reyes


Since dropping the “Wow, Philippines” tagline, the DOT had to come up with a new slogan that will invite tourists to check out our beloved country. It wasn’t an easy task, since social media made it easier for us to voice our opinions or mock the slogans that were put out (Pilpinas, Kay Ganda). Finding the perfect slogan that would attract a positive feedback proved to be a challenge.

When DOT released the new slogan “It’s More Fun in the Philippines”, the feedback was mixed. The internet enabled everyone to create their own version of the slogan (inserting the tagline with a funny picture). A lot of people enjoyed it because of that, but a lot of people were also quick to mock it with not-so-fun details of the Philippines.

It’s a bit frustrating to say the least, because if people would just take a little time to notice, every insult that they threw around only pertained to Manila. Traffic, travel tax and terminal fee, corrupt MMDA officials, transportation, and the list goes on and on. I understand that we have become so jaded by our own city that we fail to notice that the slogan is for the whole Philippines.

Manila’s not the only place for the tourists to see. In fact, I would suggest for them to forego Manila and head to straight to the North or the South. You want them to see places that they will never get to see back home. We have that, and much more. I have met a lot of foreigners that fell in love with Cebu, who had a hard time leaving Bacolod. One even ate his heart out in Ilocos, he even begged me to give him the recipe for Bagnet.

These are the things that we should point out, not the negative nuances we see every day. We already know what’s wrong here, why can’t we detract and give the rest of the Philippines the needed attention?
I guess it’s because we’re strangers in our own country. It’s baffling how the only vacation spots we can think of are Boracay or Baguio. It’s not that I don’t like those places, but let’s give the others a try.

There’s also the fact that the amount of money you spend on a trip here is pretty much the same amount you spend when going out of the country. Prices for domestic travel should be attractive to us Filipinos since if given the choice of Bohol or Singapore with the same price, it’s very obvious which destination we would pick. It’s quite surprising how we choose to go somewhere else to be culture shocked rather than get shocked by the diversity of our own culture.

It’s no lie that life and everything else is definitely more fun here in the Philippines, but the slogan definitely had a harder time convincing the locals than the foreigners.

Luisa Reyes is a Philippine Studies Major in Filipino and Mass Media student of DLSU . She tweets at @scaredpotta.