DOT says contracts with DDB terminated, but Castro still wants cases filed

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Tourism (DOT) may have terminated its contract with the advertising firm responsible for the controversial tourism promo launched last June 2022, but ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro still wants cases filed for the shame it brought upon the country.

During the deliberation of the DOT budget before the House Committee on Appropriations on Tuesday, Castro asked tourism officials if they had already filed cases against DDB Philippines, to which Undersecretary Mae Elaine Bathan said that they had terminated the contract.

Meanwhile, Castro said that they expect charges as the tourism video created by the ad agency used stock footage that was not from the Philippines, damaging the country’s reputation.

“Ang ine-expect ng representasyong ito, dahil nagbunga ito ng kahihiyan sa ating bansa, nagbunga ito ng kahihiyan sa mga Pilipino, itong trabaho ng DDB na trabahong tamad at plagiarism, ‘yong paggawa ng video at ‘yong misrepresentation ng sites, so hindi lang basta termination eh,” Castro said.

(Because their actions resulted in shame for the country and the job done by the DDB was lazy work and plagiarism, which misrepresented tourism sites, we expect that this does not merit termination only.)

“Dapat magkaso tayo sa DDB. Would you pursue this against the DDB dito sa ginawa nilang plagiarism, trabahaong tamad, at misrepresentation?” she asked.

(We should file cases against DDB. Would you pursue this against the DDB over the lazy job they did, over this plagiarism and misrepresentation?)

In response, Bathan said that the priority of DOT is to terminate and cancel the contract.  However, she assured Castro that they would file the necessary complaints if the issue merits a legal case.

“Madam chair, as of the moment, the priority of the department was to immediately terminate and cancel the contract.  And one of the serious considerations also is other courses of legal action, including the filing of an action in the proper courts should the same be warranted,” Bathan said.

“But as we said, there was already a forfeiture of the performance bond as part of the penalty, aside from the termination and cancellation, and the non-payment of any relative expenses that have been incurred relative to the project,” she added.

After DDB Philippines released the video advertisement, political blogger Sass Rogando Sasot pointed out that the one-minute and 45-second promotional video for the new tourism campaign, Love the Philippines, used footage from foreign areas.

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 — all accessible in Storyblocks, a rapid video creation platform.

DDB Philippines has apologized to the DOT, leading the department to terminate the contract with the ad agency.

Castro also questioned why DDB Philippines was allowed to upload the videos and other materials on the DOT’s behalf, with officials including Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco herself explaining that the content producer was allowed to upload the materials.

However, DOT clarified that since DDB Philippines submitted a product that was created using unoriginal videos, the contract was immediately terminated — with not a single centavo being paid to the contractor.

Frasco also said that another contract with DDB, for consultancy, has been suspended.  During the interpellation of OFW party-list Rep. Marissa Magsino, this was revealed to be a consultancy service contract between DDB Philippines and the Tourism Promotional Board worth over P12 million.

“You can have my assurances Mr. Chair, that the Department of Tourism takes seriously the integrity of the tourism branding of the country and it is this standard of integrity that we wish to continue to observe, not tolerating acts of nature resulting in the termination of contract and the suspension of any other contracts related to this company,” Frasco said.

According to the DOT head, they would have not known that DDB Philippines would have resorted to the use of stock footage.

“The [DOT] could not have known that a reputable, worldwide agency recognized for its ability to produce reliable content would upload unoriginal videos, which is precisely why the Department of Tourism in its aghast at this act that has caused damage to the branding campaign and to the country, immediately ordered an investigation to ensure that number one, no public funds were expended. And true enough, not a single peso was released,” Frasco noted.

“To be very clear, it was never the intention of the Department of Tourism to allow unoriginal images to be posted, which is exactly why the contract has been terminated,” she added.

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