Basta Pinas travel advocacy campaign launched

Travel blogger Ivan Henares has journeyed to all 79 provinces of the Philippines. Most of us would be glad to clock up even half of that. Admittedly, I seem to be travelling more abroad than locally these days. I really see nothing wrong with this since it opens me up to other cultures and gives me fresh perspectives on how things are going in other parts of the world.

For example, did you know that the Philippine public transport system looks like it was stuck in the 1960s when placed side by side with the mass transport in China’s big cities? Harsh reality, right? Truth is, we tend to be complacent with what we have unless we go out to see the world and realize that we are being left behind by our neighbors in a major, major way! I hope that every Filipino public official who goes on taxpayer-paid junkets realize this too and do something about it 😀

Still, I believe it is every Filipino’s duty to support local tourism. And the best thing is that we may travel the world over only to know that there’s nothing like our beaches and our sunsets, our mountains and our seas, our laughter and our smiling people. There’s nothing like home sweet home.

This is the essence behind the latest domestic travel advocacy campaign Basta Pinas launched by Bonamine, the popular motion sickness pill. In the words of Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim: “Our collaboration with Johnson & Johnson (makers of Bonamine) will help in getting information on our country’s hidden charms to a wider audience and we are looking forward to seeing more Filipinos travelling within the Philippines.

At the campaign launch in Oceana, I really liked the photos taken by the official photography group, Chasing Light. Certain spots in the Philippines can be taken through different angles and the end result will still be beautiful 😉

Here’s an artistic photo of the countryside somewhere in General Santos City, the hometown of boxing legend Manny Pacquiao.

I’ve been to Silay City in Negros Occidental but never got to see this. Nice composition 🙂

The mountains of Bato, Catanduanes framed by all that greenery.

A boat set amidst the horizon in Bantayan Island, Cebu – one of my dream places to visit this year!

(All pics by Chasing Light)

Find the Basta Pinas page on Facebook to view more photos like these and get updated on the latest news related to local tourism. Also get the first dibs on travel deals and contests simply by joining http://www.facebook.com/bastapinas