‘itsmorefuninph’ foreign, local personalities agree

Even world-renowned fantasy writer and graphic novelist Neil Gaiman agrees with the government’s new slogan that it is really more fun in the Philippines.

In a tweet posted on Jan. 6, when the “it’s more fun in the Philippines’’ hashtag became one of the top trending topics on micro-blogging site Twitter, Gaiman said, “(The) #itsmorefuninthePhilippines hashtag is a true one. They applaud loudly and hug you a lot.”

Gaiman, no stranger to the Philippines, having already been in the country thrice, has repeatedly posted on his blog how much he loves the Philippines, especially its people.

After his last visit to the country in March 2010, he related that while signing hundreds of books for avid fans left him ’’aching and tired,” it also left him very “happy.”

“I’ve never felt so loved. And never been so hugged,” he said in a March 18, 2010, blog entry aptly titled “Hugged to death.”

Gaiman is not the only non-Filipino showering the country with praise and attesting to the verity of the Department of Tourism’s new campaign slogan that it is indeed more fun here.

Former United States ambassador to Manila Kristie Kenney constantly tweets about missing the Philippines and her Filipino friends. Asked about her most fun-filled experience in the Philippines, she tweeted, “snorkeling in crystal clear waters with Pinoy pals.”

Now the US envoy to Thailand, she still gets regular tweets from Filipinos telling her how much she is missed here.

The new tourism slogan has also gotten the attention of Filipino personalities in various industries both here and abroad.

BBC News anchor Rico Hizon highlighted the Filipinos’ penchant for the Web, saying how “Tweeting, Facebooking, Googling, Gmailing, Yahooing’’ were more fun in the Philippines, and then inviting people to “visit our beautiful 7,107 islands now na (right now)!”

Make-up artist Jigs Mayuga said it was more fun in the Philippines because of the “isaw, fishball, kwek-kwek,” while actor Ping Medina compared Singapore’s $8-beer with the Philippines’ less than $1-a-bottle ones.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte tweeted that the Philippines was the only country in the world where the 1980s dance tune “Never Gonna Give You Up’’ reminded people more of actor Roderick Paulate than its singer, Rick Astley.

A tweet from the official account of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said it was more fun in the Philippines because of the Filipinos’ use of Twitter to get traffic and flood updates.

MMDA traffic czar Yves Gonzalez said losing a bag containing P16,000 in cash in the Philippines meant having it returned, intact, by an honest MMDA constable.

ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. anchor Bernadette Sembrano probably best captured the essence of having more fun in the Philippines when she said, “It is the only place where victims who had just lost their homes wave at the camera and pose!”

Originally posted at 07:01 pm | Monday, January 09, 2012