Seeing the controversies that have hounded the rollout of new office logos and branding slogans, government agencies may want to put on pause further initiatives at rebranding.
After the Department of Tourism and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority is also reportedly set to roll out a new logo. But unlike the DOT and PAGCOR, which allocated millions in public funds for their rebranding initiatives, TESDA has launched a contest for the redesign of its logo and will simply give prize money of P10,000 for the winning entry.
The DOT had initially said P49 million had been allocated for its tourism rebranding campaign, which includes changing the slogan from “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” to “Love the Philippines.” PAGCOR, meanwhile, reportedly spent P3 million for its rebrand, which includes a new logo and what the agency describes as other “deliverables.”
The cost to taxpayers is the main issue being raised against all these efforts at rebranding. Critics point out that the country is still recovering from its worst health and economic crisis, and the national debt breached the P14-trillion mark as of end-May. The finance secretary is warning of “fiscal collapse” in a push to reform the pension system of military and other uniformed personnel. Critics, meanwhile, have pointed out that the Maharlika Investment Fund, which was enacted into law yesterday with the fat salaries expected to be granted to the management team led by the finance secretary, will further bloat public expenditures.
In this situation, spending millions in public funds for a rebranding can smack of profligacy with people’s money and a misplaced sense of priorities. Even if new agency logos are developed at no cost to taxpayers, changing office signage and letterheads on official documents to reflect the new logo or slogan will require funds that can otherwise be used for more urgent purposes.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel has described the preoccupation with logos as “logovernance.” He’s not the only one who believes that better than cosmetic rebranding, what is needed in all government agencies is to improve public services. There’s still a mountain of red tape that needs cutting across the bureaucracy. Many other measures are needed to improve efficiency and stop corruption. In any government agency, the best rebranding is honest, efficient and dedicated public service.