SENATOR Erwin Tulfo raised valid points at a recent hearing on the budget of the Department of Tourism (DOT).
He asked Tourism Secretary Dita Angara-Mathay if it was time to create a law so the branding slogan or tagline to promote the Philippines should be kept in perpetuity.
‘We keep changing it. There’s ‘Wow Philippines,’ then ‘It’s More Fun in the Philippines,’ now ‘Love the Philippines.’ Want to bet in the next administration it will be ‘Come to the Philippines’? We don’t have a unique, unchanging brand like ‘Malaysia Truly Asia,” said Tulfo in a mix of English and Filipino.
The lawmaker has been tasked to defend the DOT budget in the upcoming Senate Plenary discussion on the proposed National Expenditure Program for 2027, and was preparing to do so by recently hearing the agency’s budget presentation.
The good DOT Secretary agreed that perhaps it was time to legislate and keep the current tourism branding slogan. ‘Anyway, maganda naman ang ‘Love the Philippines’. The people are our best asset…our hospitality is unmatched. So if we can legislate and we use ‘Love the Philippines’, I’m all for it,’ said Angara-Mathay.
I must respectfully disagree with Secretary Angara-Mathay. ‘Love the Philippines’ (LVP) is not, and has never been, a good slogan. She even had to tweak it to ‘Discover More to Love [about the Philippines],’ to send a clearer message on the many other destinations tourists can explore, and the myriad activities they could enjoy in the country.
But it was an admirable move, as the Secretary showed she could work with whatever limitations had been put in place by her predecessor.
Unfortunately, Tulfo has already filed Senate Bill No. 2511 preventing the changing of tourism slogans. I thought it was hastily drawn up without the senator studying the facts around the slogan changes and consulting affected stakeholders.
Frankly, Mr. Senator, if we must legislate such a move, then government should go back to the successful and award-winning, ‘It’s More Fun in the Philippines.’ To this day, foreigners remember it, and it encapsulates the lengths Filipinos go to welcome visitors and make sure the latter enjoy their stay in the country.
Even our own local tourism stakeholders believe it’s a far better branding tagline than LVP. They had initially tried to convince the former Tourism Secretary, Christina Garcia Frasco, to keep ‘It’s More Fun’, to which she initially agreed because even lawmakers supported that.
But it quickly became evident that she was deadset on changing the slogan, such that Frasco had convinced President Marcos Jr. to veto a proviso in the General Appropriations Act of 2023 that the agency should not use its budget to change the tourism branding slogan. (I guess she was trying to replicate her Cebu district’s ‘Live Love Liloan’ tag, to see if it worked better on a national scale.)
To his credit. even former President
Duterte kept the ‘fun’ slogan, despite it being a creation of the Aquino administration. The Tourism Secretary then, Berna Romulo-Puyat, had said Duterte didn’t mind that his administration continued using it, as this was what the tourism stakeholders wanted.
LVP has got to be the weakest branding slogan the DOT has ever created. It received so much flak as soon as it was announced because it sounds like a command. And would you force anyone to love you, without spending some time with you first?
Besides, as many marketing analysts earlier averred, ‘Love’ isn’t a unique proposition to the Philippines. For instance, personally, ‘I love London.’ I also love Singapore, New York, and Tokyo. ‘Love the Philippines’ doesn’t really say anything about our country and our people.
So when a tourist asks, ‘Why should I visit the Philippines?’ Are we to respond, ‘Because-Love the Philippines’? But replace that reply with ‘Because it’s more fun in the Philippines’, and you get a conversation going, with the tourist wanting to know more about the country.
Perhaps that’s what a good tourism slogan should be-not tell people what to feel, but make them curious enough to come and experience it for themselves.
So the DOT folks and lawmakers should keep this in mind before legislating a tourism slogan that will last forever, or in the case of Tulfo’s bill, at least 15 years.
My Masajiro Burger fix
NOW, I love cheeseburgers. (There’s that word ‘love’ again.) And there are only a few restaurants from which I regularly order this heart-plugging dish.
After I got a taste of Masajiro Burger in Glorietta Makati last year, I was pleased that its owners decided to open a kiosk near the cinemas at The Podium.
While still quite a distance from where I live, The Podium branch welcomed me with the hypnotizing aromas of burgers gently sizzling on the grill, julliened potatoes gurgling in the deep fat fryer, and beads of rice slowly expanding and fluffing up in the cooker.
A franchise of Masajiro Burger in Fukuoka, Japan, the burger patties in Manila are made from pure wagyu beef, an offshoot of the Joson Family’s main business of importing wagyu beef under its J-Gyu Corp. (The company supplies authentic Japanese wagyu beef to hotels and restaurants, and, lately, sells cuts online or through retail outlets like SandR.)
The wagyu beef patties taste better as these are served in Masajiro’s trademark golden buns. These buns are kneaded by hand daily, using a unique flour mixture, which develops into a soft, pillowy, and chewy bite.
Personally I enjoy the Classic Burger, with the golden bun schmeared with a honey mustard mayo. It holds a juicy patty, sitting on a bed of crisp lettuce and tomato. This time around I had the Cheesy Beast Fries, which was heaving under a slather of melted cheddar cheese with a plop of what seemed like a curry sauce. So it’s definitely a tasty treat with the salty-sweet flavors slowly giving in to a light spice.
And of course, complementing my cheeseburger was the sweet and creamy Matcha Milkshake that was quite refreshing. The vanilla ice cream balances out the earthy and often bitter taste of the matcha powder, creating a more nuanced and pleasantly satisfying drink.
Aside from the burgers (which diners can order stacked, fiery, or in fish and chicken varieties), Masajiro also offers delicious rice meals. (I am told that even the owner of the Fukuoka original is rethinking his menu and will likely add rice meals, too. I mean, come on, how can you beat hambagu with rice? Add a little gravy and you’re all set!)
It turns out that my favorite among the rice meals is the Menchi Star Rice, which consists of a juicy breaded pork cutlet sitting on a bed of folded egg, and served on steaming gohan rice. It was filling and comforting, like I’ve been having it in my family home’s dining table for ages.
And take heart, Quezon City folks! Masajiro Burger will open at SM North Edsa hopefully by December, just in time for the Christmas season.
This just means my love affair with cheeseburgers is about to get a whole lot more convenient. For us who live in Quezon City, that’s probably the best kind of holiday news-although my cardiologist may feel differently.
The second branch of Masajiro Burger is at Level 4, The Podium, 12 ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City