DOT chief: Usec Romano was warned vs rushing tourism campaign

Newly resigned Undersecretary Vicente Romano III was warned against rushing his controversial "Pilipinas Kay Ganda" package but went through with it anyway, the Department of Tourism chief said Wednesday. But Secretary Alberto Lim also admitted he did not stop Romano from pushing the new brand and logo because doing so might curb the undersecretary's "creativity" and "enthusiasm." "Kami naman, nag-warn dahil kailangang may market test. Sabi niya, 'o saka na yan, at ilantad muna natin ito para makita ng tao at kung batikusin, i-withdraw natin.' So yan ang nangyari, Lim said in an interview on dwIZ. (We warned him that there should be a market test first for the new slogan. Romano said, 'that could come later, and that we could always withdraw it if people do not like it.' That was what happened.) On Tuesday, Romano quit his post over the "Pilipinas Kay Ganda" tourism branding, which had earned heavy public criticism. The pubic disapproval prompted President Benigno Aquino III to drop the packaging altogether and order Lim to present a blueprint of the government's tourism program. Critics had questioned whether foreigners could understand the slogan "Pilipinas Kay Ganda," adding the logo's similarity to Poland's "Polska" tourism branding smacked of plagiarism. Romano, a "civil society" blogger who had lambasted the Arroyo administration over corruption issues, apologized to Aquino, Lim, and the Filipino people. Lim stressed he did not insist on stopping Romano. "Kung may ganyang creativity, ayaw mo pigilin dahil baka ma-discourage ang tao. Enthusiastic ang tao, galing siya sa kalsada so gusto niyang may pagbabago kaagad so pinilit niya ipursigi ito (You don't want to discourage creative people. The man was enthusiastic. He came from the streets and wanted change, so he forced the issue)," he said. But he also stressed that the issue was blown out of proportion, saying the slogan was still in the "concept" stage. Romano authorized the major decisions on the "Pilipinas Kay Ganda" program, while he as DOT chief authorized the "smaller" expenses. Lim did not elaborate on this, however. — LBG, GMANews.TV