More than 40 congressmen, city mayors, and councilors have declared their support for Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco amid the criticism the DOT faces due to the 'Love The Philippines' stock footage fiasco.
"We as a united One Cebu Island, express our extreme displeasure and strongly condemn the patent mudslinging and dirty politicking directed at Secretary [Christina] Garcia-Frasco," the Cebu local government officials underscored in their "Manifesto of Support" statement posted on Tuesday, July 4.
They claimed that the barrage of criticisms against Fracso, a Cebuana, on both social media and mainstream media are perpetuated by individuals who have "questionable agenda" and intend to "sway the trust and confidence" President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. to her.
The Cebu local government officials also said that this fiasco is a mere "sabotage" against Fracso's great accomplishments.
They pointed out that Frasco has proven herself to be an asset as recent surveys have shown that she ranked the second top-performing Cabinet official with a 77 percent approval rating.
"We are well aware that, in all her years as a public servant, Secretary Garcia-Frasco has always taken extra care to preserve and maintain the honor, integrity, and dignity of her office; she has an impeccable track record as a lawyer, and as a multi-awarded three-term mayor of Liloan," the local officials stated further.
The DOT has been under fire after DDB Philippines, the advertising agency that created and published the Love The Philippines' tourism Audio Visual Presentation (AVP), admitted and publicly apologized for using non-original materials.
Following this, the tourism department terminated its contract with DBB PH.
DOT maintained that no public funds were released for the payment of the AVP tourism campaign.
