MANILA, Philippines?The boxing champ draws hundreds of thousands of people to his blockbuster fights in posh hotels and stadiums in the United States. Why not make him the Philippines? poster boy for tourism?
Manny Pacquiao?s colleagues in the House of Representatives? minority bloc are pitching this idea to the Aquino administration, but with the caveat that it should stick with the old tourism slogan ?WOW Philippines.?
?I think Manny Pacquiao is not only a boxing icon [but also] a tourism magnet for the Philippines,? Minority Leader Edcel Lagman told reporters Wednesday in a briefing.
Lagman and Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay said the administration should take advantage of Pacquiao?s international fame to help promote Philippine tourism hobbled by a bungled hostage rescue and adverse travel advisories.
Pacquiao further cemented his No. 1 status in the boxing world when he beat Mexican Antonio Margarito in Texas on Saturday night (Sunday in Manila) to capture his eighth world title.
?Beyond politics?
?Pacquiao is beyond politics,? Magsaysay said. ?There?s no majority, there?s no minority. So if Manny can do a good job selling our country, then why not? At the end of the day, we should all help to alleviate the situation … and if Manny can do that, we should utilize his stature.?
Said Lanao del Norte Rep. Fatimah Aliah Dimaporo: ?Manny Pacquiao [is] an icon of sports. He?s the epitome of the Filipino. At a very young age, he has shown that with hard work and perseverance, he can attain anything he wants to attain.?
Lagman went as far as to suggest that Pacquiao hold his next fight in Manila to boost tourism.
?It may not be as profitable as his foreign fights, but definitely he will be giving back to his ardent admirers and steadfast followers in the country. We have sufficient facilities, which can rival the rest of the world with respect to holding a grand boxing event,? Lagman said.
?Who?d understand it??
But Lagman said Pacquiao should be tapped, ?not with the present slogan.?
?It has to be translated,? Lagman said of the new brand ?Pilipinas Kay Ganda.?
?Who among the foreigners, Germans and Englishmen alike, would understand that if you don?t translate it?? he said.
Lagman wondered what the Department of Tourism found wrong with ?WOW Philippines.?
?If there?s nothing wrong with it, why change it?? he said.
He observed that politics might have had something to do with the change, saying ?anything which the Arroyo administration originated, the present administration would like to jettison.?
