MANILA – The Department of Tourism’s (DOT) is probing the alleged use stock footage taken from other countries in its “Love the Philippines” promotion video.
The clips from the said video, which supposedly aims to showcase the Philippines’ tourist attractions, were purportedly stock footage from Thailand, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates accessible in Storyblocks, a rapid video creation platform, according to various users online.
In response, the DOT said on Saturday that it started conducting an investigation “to determine the veracity of, and to gather the full faculty of facts on, these allegations.”
It added that DDB Philippines, the agency that prepared and published the audio-visual presentation, has repeatedly confirmed the originality and ownership of all materials in the video.
“During the various meetings and consultations held relative to the tourism brand enhancement, the DOT, for its part, repeatedly sought confirmation from DDB on the originality and ownership of all materials contained in the AVPs and key visuals presented to the Department,” the DOT said in a statement.
“In all these occasions, DDB repeatedly assured the DOT that the originality and ownership of all materials are in order,” it added.
The tourism department likewise clarified that the video under the newly-launched campaign, which costs P49 million as revealed by Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco in an interview over CNN Philippines’ “The Source,” did not use public funds.
“While no public funds have been paid for the AVP in question as this particular component of the launch was released on the account of DDB, the DOT holds the responsibility of promoting the country to the highest standard,” it said.
“Therefore, it will not hesitate to exact accountability and take the necessary action to protect the interest of the country even as it continues to exhaust all efforts to develop and promote the Philippine tourism industry,” it added. (Faith Argosino © Philippine Daily Inquirer)
