The President said the decision was made after talking to the stakeholders in the tourism industry who were not contented with the controversial slogan that replaced the “Wow Philippines” slogan.

"I met with the stakeholders and they seemed not contented about it. So I believe it would be appropriate that it would be fine-tuned and maybe look for a more apt slogan. I asked Secretary Lim to present the whole blueprint of our tourism slogan. I want all its details to be reviewed,” President Aquino said in a press briefing after the courtesy call on the President of boxing superstar Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao at the Premiere Guest House in Malacañang on Saturday.

The 31-year-old southpaw, however, came to the rescue of the proposed slogan, saying that Filipinos should unite behind it.

Pacquiao even said he is willing to become the poster boy for Philippine tourism.

President Aquino met with Lim last Friday in Malacañang to thresh out the conflict over the proposed tourism slogan for the Philippines.

The review of the slogan, Pilipinas Kay Ganda, was triggered by a deluge of criticisms that it was dull and hackneyed as claimed by some groups.

Aquino said he and Lim did not just talk about the proposed slogan of the DoT but also other aspects of the Philippine tourism’s blueprint.

“Well, a lot of things. But, basically, more of the details on the overall tourism master plan and, siguro, some of it I cannot really reveal because we will be embarking on a non-traditional approach in trying to really promote tourism in the country and amongst them, parang the recognition of assets that we have. For instance, our seafarers that are the biggest single nationality flying the world’s oceans,” President Aquino said.

“I think you will see that there will be a lot of changes and they have submitted to me their overall plan. I also want all of the details that they laid to those plans,” he added.

The Chief Executive admitted that the proposed slogan should have been “tested out better.”

“Well, I was given something that was a lot plainer than what resulted, and there was a deadline that they were working on and…shall we say there concepts that should have been tested out better. There should have been [more] focused group discussions. There should have been more market research that was mislaid doon sa launch, eh. I understand now that what they were doing was to talk to the stakeholders to get their reaction to something that will seek to differentiate us from all our competitors,” he explained.

“There were lots of errors, but it’s not too late. It’s not too late to rectify them,” he added.

Meanwhile, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said the DoT will be testing other slogans that would spur the country’s tourism industry.

She said there are a number of other slogans that would be market-tested, particularly abroad, aside from the slogan “Pilipinas Kay Ganda (Philippines: So beautiful!).”

“From what we understand, you test it in your target market. So our target market is, of course, foreigners from Europe and North America, so we will be testing it there and see what their reactions will be,” she explained.

JC Bello Ruiz & Madel Sabater, Manila Bulletin