Taiwan seeks security...

PAGE capabilities of the Philippines, such as setting up additional U.S. military installations under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).

He brushed aside concerns that setting up the U.S. military facilities under EDCA, two of which are in the northern Philippines just across the sea from Taiwan, is a provocative act directed at China.

“What is causing provocation in this region is China’s expansionism,” Wu said.

“As far as I can see, there are prospects for better relations between Taiwan and the Philippines under the current President BBM,” Wu said. “Some of his public statements concerning Taiwan have been welcomed by Taiwanese people. For example, he spoke about the importance of peace and stability in this area. He spoke about the need to oppose unilateral change of status quo in all these areas, including South China Sea.”

During Super Typhoon Yolanda, he said the Taiwan air force was able to deliver a planeload of relief goods in the Philippines before China exerted pressure, “and therefore we had to stop.”

Wu lamented that this is part of the “cognitive warfare” being waged by China against Taiwan –“saying that geopolitics these days is a conflict or dispute or competition between the United States and China. And therefore our countries should stay away from this conflict, countries should stay neutral.”

The cognitive warfare, he said, is in line with the “hybrid warfare” being waged by China against what it considers as its renegade province. Beijing has threatened to one day retake Taiwan, by force if necessary.

“They are threatening Taiwan, day in and day out, and initiating hybrid warfare,” Wu said. “Cyber attacks. Disinformation campaign. Infiltration. Or cognitive warfare. Things that are under the threshold of real gunfighting. So this is what China has been waging against Taiwan. And other than that there is also economic coercion.”

Wu stressed that Taipei is open to “peaceful dialogues” with Beijing, but the Chinese insist that the Taiwanese must accept the one-China, two-systems model of reunification – something that he said cannot be accepted if Hong Kong is the model.

At this point, Wu said, public opinion polls show that the Taiwanese simply want to maintain the status quo, which is that Taiwan “is an autonomous state.”

“To us, we are not run by China,” he said. “Taiwan runs by itself. We have a president, publicly elected. We have a parliament, publicly elected as well, and we have a Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we have a Ministry of National Defense and we even have an independent currency note, which is New Taiwan dollar. And therefore, Taiwan is not part of the PROC.”

He expressed hope that Chinese economic pressure would not be “overestimated” by the international community, noting that the massive investments promised by Beijing to the Philippines during the previous administration did not materialize.

“Of course we don’t want to impose,” Wu emphasized. “We hope the Philippine government can think through some of the things that will be in the interest of the Philippines.”

China had initiated the so-called nine-dash-line claim over the South China Sea. When the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague invalidated the claim in 2016, Taipei pointed out that it could not comment on the ruling because it was not consulted or asked to participate in the arbitration. Taiwan’s position on the issue is unchanged.

“We support the rights of freedom of navigation and freedom of overflights,” Wu said.

He stressed that Taiwan does not want to be “a provocateur.”

“We don’t want to offend anyone. We don’t want to cause any conflict in this region,” he said, adding that Taipei simply wants to preserve the status quo with China and resolve disputes over the South China Sea through peaceful dialogue.

If China wages war on Taiwan, he noted, “who will be the next target? I think it might be the Philippines.”

“We think that the best way for us at this moment is for Taiwan and other claimants of the South China Sea to enter into peaceful research of the natural resources (in the sea) or engage in scientific endeavors together or jointly develop the resources,” he said.

“As far as I can see, there’s prospects for better relations between Taiwan and the Philippines under the current President BBM,” Wu said. “As long as there’s a desire on the part of the Philippines, Taiwan will be there to work together with the Philippines. After all, the Philippines is the closest neighbor to us.” n

“So, the Philippines will continue to be fun. But now also it will have a very substantial approach to its branding campaign,” she added.

‘Change in traveler preference’

In a presentation, Marie Adriano, marketing firm DDB Group Philippines’ brand and strategic planner, cited that there was a change in the preference of travelers who are now going beyond leisure.

Adriano said that given this shift, “brand enhancement is imperative to stay competitive and relevant.”

She said the group conducted social listening that showed the change in travelers’ associations with the Philippines.

“Love is the positive theme they associate with our country, frequently mentioned in high volumes globally,” Adriano cited.

“And while fun remains a positive thing and certainly part of the Pinoy DNA, there’s less volume of mentions,” she added, explaining the new enhanced tourism campaign.

Not the first attempt

This was not the first try to replace the eleven-year-old slogan. In 2017, former Undersecretary Kat De Castro, said there were also plans to revamp the slogan as a study found that it was not enough to attract tourists from Europe and the United States.

“The new campaign under Secretary Wanda Teo will be more specific in terms of destination and what activities tourists can do,” De Castro was quoted by Spot.PH as saying in 2017.

That plan did not push through and Teo’s admin instead launched an international video campaign dubbed “Experience Philippines.”

The video campaign, featuring a blind Japanese tourist enjoying the Philippines, however, drew flak after allegations that the concept of the video was copied from a tourism campaign in South Africa.

Marketing firm McCann World addressed the plagiarism allegations and took full responsibility for it, saying it was inspired by a real story of a visually-impaired foreigner who found home in the Philippines.

“We take full responsibility as ALL ideas and storyboards presented were conceptualized by McCann Worldgroup Philippines. However, we underscore that there has never been any intention to copy others’ creative work,” it said.

Fast forward to 2023, the DOT once again made headlines after a campaign featuring Filipina nurse May Parsons, with the tagline “We give the world our best,” was spotted in the United Kingdom and went viral.

Frasco, however, said the bus ad was not an official slogan of the DOT that would replace the “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” campaign. The ad is a project by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Creative Communications (OPACC) as part of its branding campaign led by Presidential Adviser on Creative Communications Paul Soriano.

Meanwhile, the move to launch a new tourism campaign is in line with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s pronouncement during his first State of the Nation Address when he mentioned his vision to enhance the Filipino brand of tourism.

It is also part of the government’s push to make Philippines a “tourism powerhouse” in Southeast Asia, in accordance with the National Tourism Development Plan for 2023 to 2028. n