Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco on Tuesday said she will consult the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Office of the President on what possible actions they can take over the “false statement” of an Indonesian counterpart, who claimed that the Department of Tourism (DOT) used footage of an Indonesian tourist attraction in a presentation during a United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) meeting.
During the hearing of the proposed P2.9-billion budget of the DOT for fiscal year 2024, Frasco told Senator Nancy Binay, who chairs the Senate Committee on Tourism, that she categorically denies the statement made by Indonesian Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno, who thanked the Philippines for using Tegalalang rice terraces, which is in Bali, Indonesia.
Uno attended the UNWTO meeting in Cambodia last June along with Frasco.
The DOT chief also refuted speculation that the agency the department hired used the mood video that was being questioned last July during the launch of the “Love the Philippines” campaign for the UNWTO meeting.
“To clarify, the UN-WTO conference, which I attended, happened prior to the launch of the video in question. The video that was shown during the dinner hosted by the Philippine government in UN-WTO was the video that was made in-house and did not use any of the footage that was used in the video launch to support the tourism rebranding,” Frasco said.
“We categorically deny showing the video in question during the UN-WTO,” the Tourism chief added.
Binay asked Frasco if she made an effort to correct the statement of the Indonesian official. The lawmaker was answered by DOT Assistant Secretary Verna Buensuceso, saying the DOT has already communicated to their Indonesian counterparts to explain that what was shown in the dinner hosted by the Philippines in Cambodia “was actually an in-house production and was certainly not about the video and the ad in question.”
Binay then advised the DOT chief to “demand an apology from that tourism minister” because the Indonesian official was “fabricating stories and lying.”
Frasco was quick to answer and said she “would discuss the matter with the Executive department and the DFA.”