EDITORIAL - Can regular mail help boost Phl tourism?

To help accelerate tourism promotion efforts in the country, a lawmaker has filed a bill in Congress that requires the printing of postage stamps depicting different Philippine tourist destinations.

Parañaque Representative Eric Olivarez's House Bill 2417 also requires the Philippine Postal Service to use the stamps in its international transactions to help attract more foreign tourists.

The bill got the support from no less than the Department of Tourism, which is currently moving heaven and earth to turn its own "It's More Fun in the Philippines" campaign into a global success.

Cashing in on the importance of the bill, DOT-7 director Rowena Lu Montecillo said the proposal "will surely promote and boost tourism in the countryside." She is hopeful that tourist spots in Central Visayas will get a share of the exposure.

There's no question that the region will get its own share in the PhilPost stamp promotion once the bill becomes a law. There are still many tourist destinations across Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor that need to be exposed to foreign tourists.

The bill, of course, has nothing but good intentions. It is just one of those that seek to revolutionize the industry for the country to be able to catch up with those Asian tourism powerhouses.

 But, it seems, the proposed measure aiming to lure foreign tourists through the use of postage stamps is already too late. For one, postage stamps are no longer the trend in the global exchange of communication.

Look, post offices are no longer the preferred venue when one sends a letter to his loved ones abroad. He would just simply access the Internet in his computer or smartphone to communicate them through emails.

This is not to say the bill will never work nowadays given the advent of modern technology. But it would have been more effective had it been filed 30 or 40 years ago when the regular mail was still very much part of our daily lives.

It remains to be seen whether the measure will metamorphose into a successful piece of law that benefits the tourism industry. If the government is having a hard time promoting the "It's More Fun in the Philippines" campaign, it would surely have trouble selling those postage stamps in this time when the majority are no longer using regular mail.