MANILA, 26 August — The Department of Tourism’s (DOT) ‘Bring Home a Friend’ program has been re-launched and re-named Gordon’s Tourism Volunteer 12 (V-12) program. The program, initiated by Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon, is intended to “uplift the dignity and livelihood of Filipinos” as the “most natural and cost-effective” resource to bring tourists to the country.
Gordon’s V-12 program aims to mobilize an estimated 7.38 million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) worldwide and earn for the country tourism revenues of $7 billion a year.
“When a Filipino abroad commits to become a tourism volunteer, he gains power to change the course of Philippine tourism and economy. It only takes one tourist,” Gordon said.
Gordon is currently with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on a state visit to Singapore where the tourism chief is working to enlist some 150,000 Filipino workers there as “tourism volunteers” in the V-12 program.
The program was launched during Arroyo’s state visit to Malaysia early this month and aims to bring home about 12 foreign tourists a year (or one per month) per OFW.
Two agencies have already begun organizing workers in Malaysia, where 640,000 Filipinos are currently employed.
Gordon is relying on his past experience as chairman of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and as mayor of Olongapo City wherein he successfully mobilized volunteers to help run the local government. He hopes his success in Olongapo and Subic will continue in those parts of the world where Filipinos are actively employed.
“Who would help our country but us?” Gordon said. “The substitution of tourism as a support base for the economy instead of the practice of sending OFWs to other countries would make it unnecessary to travel abroad just to earn a decent living.”
Last year, close to 2 million tourists visited the country with each tourist spending approximately $1,056.75 for services incurred and for their accommodation.
“Our 7.38 million OFWs are well-placed in major travel markets worldwide, including Singapore. Their presence in these strategic countries gives every Filipino a unique advantage in influencing more tourists in their areas to visit the Philippines,” Gordon said.
The “Bring Home A Friend” program was first conceived during the administration of former Tourism Secretary Mina Gabor as an innovation to the successful Balikbayan Program of former Tourism Minister Jose D. Aspiras in 1973.
The program has undergone several name changes and under former Secretary Gemma Araneta was called the Discover your Roots program and targeted second and third generations of Filipino-Americans in the United States to visit the homeland and discover their parents’ culture and history. The program includes perks like discounts on international and domestic roundtrip airfares, on hotel rates and on imported consumer goods as “pasalubong” to friends and relatives.
