President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s move to transfer PHP400 million of his contingency funds to restore the Department of Tourism’s (DOT) branding budget will boost promotions for Philippine destinations and translate to more arrivals and tourist spending, Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said on Wednesday.

From the proposed PHP500 million branding budget this year, the Congress earlier slashed the allocation down to PHP100 million in the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

The Tourism chief said the DOT conveyed its “grave concern” over this huge budget cut before President Marcos during a meeting on Wednesday.

The Chief Executive immediately ordered the transfer of funds to restore the budget cut.

“We are grateful that the President listened and acted right away by saying that PHP400 million will be added to our promotions budget to bring it back to the PHP500 million original proposal in the NEP (National Expenditure Program),” she told reporters in an ambush interview at the Newport World Resorts in Pasay City.

“What we can expect from this addition of PHP400 million is that we will be able to sustain the momentum that we have gained for our Love the Philippines global tourism campaign that has seen execution in various media platforms as well as our activations abroad,” she added.

Frasco earlier said the budget cut would impact the agency’s promotion efforts in key markets and eventually deal a huge blow in the country’s recovering inbound market.

“Through the addition of PHP400 million, we will be able to sustain our presence in our top source markets, as well as in the opportunity markets, and that will translate inevitably to more tourism arrivals and more tourism revenues for the Philippines,” she said.

In addition, Frasco said this added budget would also mean more tourism spending and more livelihood and jobs for the Filipino people.

This was not the first time the agency suffered a severe budget cut in its branding campaign.

In 2024, its funding for the program was slashed down to PHP200 million from the PHP1.27 billion approved in the previous year.

Despite a limited budget on promotions the past year, the agency was still able to implement a global campaign for Love the Philippines that reached the United States, the Middle East, Europe, and many parts of Asia. (PNA)