FILIPINOS ABROAD. Members of the Filipino community in New Jersey, United States in a meeting with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Sept. 19, 2022. Presidential Adviser on Creative Communication Secretary Paul Soriano said Saturday (May 13, 2023) that the Philippines’ new tagline “We Give the World Our Best – The Philippines” is meant to let the world know how good, compassionate, and competent Filipinos are. (Screengrab from Radio Television Malacañang)
MANILA – The Philippines’ new tagline “We Give the World Our Best – The Philippines” is different from the country’s long-time tourism slogan “It’s More Fun in the Philippines,” Presidential Adviser on Creative Communication (PACC) Secretary Paul Soriano said Saturday.
In a statement, Soriano clarified that the latest country branding project is “not solely a tourism campaign.”
The clarification was made in response to negative reactions to a bus advertisement in London featuring Filipina-British nurse May Parsons, the nurse who gave the world’s first coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccine, with the slogan “A Filipina. We Give The World Our Best. The Philippines.”
Soriano said the office of the PACC (OPACC) rolled out the country branding campaign with the goal of “making us proud to be a Filipino, here at home and anywhere, everywhere all over the world.”
“At its core, the project intends to let the whole world know how good, compassionate, and competent Filipinos are. Filipinos bring their ‘best’ through daily actions that touch lives all over the world,” he said, adding that the campaign spearheads a long-term country branding initiative, in line with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s bid to uplift the Filipino name and reputation in and around the world.
Soriano explained the bus advertisement in London, which came out in time for King Charles III’s May 6 grand coronation given the anticipated large international crowd to attend the historic global event, was just “among the first communication outputs” of the OPACC’s nation-branding project.
“Unfortunately, the London (advertisement) was misconstrued as part of the country’s tourism promotion campaign. OPACC wants to clear the confusion and clarify that it was not meant, in any way, to promote the country’s tourist destinations,” he said.
“Video (advertisements) featuring true stories of successful Filipinos in different countries were also released within the same period, aired overseas. The first two ads tell the story of Charm, a Filipina caregiver in the UK, and DJ, a barista in Italy.”
Soriano said the OPACC is planning to release similar advertisements in parts of the world like in the United States and the Middle East, featuring overseas Filipino workers making a name for themselves.
The OPACC, he said, had engaged several “respected and well-known” creative directors to conceptualize and prepare communication materials to be used in implementing the project.
Soriano added that his office had already informed and briefed various government agencies that will play key roles to make the long-term country branding campaign successful.
“Among these agencies include the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, Department of Migrant Workers, the Department of Tourism, and the Department of Trade and Industry,” he said.
Soriano said talks with several government agencies, including the DOT, are underway for the launch of their “own versions of the ‘best’ branding.”
“Through this country branding campaign, we want to uplift the spirit of our overseas Filipinos and honor them, particularly for their values that make Filipinos known to do their best at whatever chosen field, wherever they go and whatever it is they do. They truly deserve this,” Soriano said. (PNA)
