The Philippine Online Chronicles

When the new tourism slogan of the Department of Tourism debuted last January 6, a number of comments both positive and negative were posted online as a reaction to the newest theme. Some posted that the slogan was used by Switzerland in 1951 claiming that the come on line, “It’s more fun in the Philippines” is not cool at all on the basis of its being ‘recycled’.

Others loved the new slogan counter arguing that Switzerland has no copyright for fun and the similarity was not deliberate as it was incidental. The Filipino humor was apparent when the slogan was unveiled and a number of interpretations posted in different social media networking sites all aimed at being given some seconds for laugh, fun, and reflections.

These various photos tagged with the new slogan ranked top on Twitter while it served as headlines of several major newspapers even days after its launch. For some reasons during the height of discussions about the slogan, netizens belted on the hash tag created by a major  TV network seemingly defying the hard works of the Department of Tourism by asking the people about what’s not fun in the Philippines. It offended some Twitter users saying that it was not the right time or the right chance to ask questions we all know the answers to.  Not at least, during the height of the discussion about the new slogan where everybody seemed having fun brewing their own concept of that something that makes it more fun in the Philippines.

Brevity is the name of the game

While everyone is busy looking at their own photos which may capture the idea of the slogan, photo uploaders and site owners encourage everyone to have a succinct taste in choosing word/words for their photo/s. The more brief and concise the message is, the more likes and shares one will get on Facebook or Twitter.

The Department of Tourism considers the reaction of the people in the various social media networking sites a success for it was able to disseminate the information without taking much efforts on their end.  The reach was quite high that it topped the trends for a significant time. Though bombarded at first by negative reactions about the slogan being copied from Switzerland, the table turned favorable to the DOT as their statement satisfied the netizens and as they were able to move them to support the campaign.

Some posted photos with texts of double-meaning such as a group photo climbing a mountain which then says, “Social Climbing. It’s more fun in the Philippines.” Another hit was the photo of Chocolate Hills in Bohol which looks like Chocolate Kisses and the other one found in the same province was the picture of the smallest primate called Tarsier hugging a tree with its big eyes staring at the camera. The photo got two interpretations all found to be natural. The first one was “Hugging a tree. It’s more fun in the Philippines” and the other one was “Staring contest. It’s more fun in the Philippines.” The mountain ride biking of indigenous groups in the North, the change of address (Bayanihan) and the planking concept of the pork dish Lechon (almost always present in Fiesta around the country) equally got good hits and shares online.

LGBT Pride

Pinoy LGBT took its share then. It was challenging to be serious in keeping the double-meaning context when choosing pictures apt for the advocacies. At first, there was a feeling of hesitance as I was about to post a photo taken during a pride march in Manila where a number of hecklers belonging to the fundamentalist group were present. The camera captured a side by side photo of two people belonging to opposite groups. Both were holding a placard containing their message for each other. The photo was then titled, “Heckling. It’s more fun in the Philippines.”

The idea was to show that in the country, though, we are not really used to the progressives versus traditionalists template, we still get to manage hecklers and heckling in a way that is not violent as we are even more than willing to take a picture with them. Though most of us generally take things on a personal level, we still can stand being civil in situations we deem necessary not for show but to prove a point. This is more evident when members of the LGBT community would engage with sectors that are known to be hostile to them through debates, discussions, argumentations without the use of any fallacies to dismiss one’s credibility. In pride marches where the fundamentalists are always present hurtling insults to LGBTs  since 2008, the only thing I remember the LGBT supporters  did was to take pictures with them as a remembrance that we still have a lot of things to do to educate others. In short, we convey our messages using the right platforms and that in itself is something we take pride of.

On a similar note, different pictures of people joining the pride march or UP Lantern Parade were tagged as LGBT Pride. For one, the concept was to show that compared to other neighboring countries, Filipino LGBT pride has already taken more steps. This means to say that there is progress, for instance, having the opportunity to write something about LGBT rights in this site. LGBT pride also refers to our collective action on issues that confront the community. The united voice of the community was heard during the disqualification of Ang Ladlad Partylist to run in the 2010 National Elections, our call for the passage of the Anti-Discrimination Bill, and opposition to stances of religious hierarchies influencing national laws and policies.

Despite all these hurdles, we take pride in the many colors, variations, and expressions we use to assert our rights. We never lose fun in taking small steps for we believe that there will come a time to achieve what we stand for. That is LGBT pride and even without elaborating much, we understand the universal language of taking the journey without forgetting to enjoy and have much fun in the run.