By Azer N. Parrocha
MANILA, Feb 8 (PNA) — Thank you messages simultaneously emerged from social media sites at 4:40 am, Saturday as Filipinos from all over the world expressed appreciation for international efforts to help the country recover following typhoon Yolanda which struck various Philippine regions in November last year.
This expression of Filipinos’ appreciation was done through the Department of Tourism’s (DOT) “#PHthankyou campaign” also known as “The Philippines says Thank you campaign.”
It is a way of showing to the world that “foreign support and encouragement has made, and continues to make, all the difference in the country’s ongoing rehabilitation and rebuilding efforts”, the DOT noted.
Days before the launch of the event, Filipinos registered via crowd-speaking platform Thunderclap which allows a single message to be mass-shared, until Feb 7 to join the campaign.
According to the DOT, the #PHthankyou campaign message was also displayed through print ads and billboards in iconic places across the world.
Among these iconic places is Times Square, New York, U.S.; Piccadilly Circus, London, U.K.; Potsdamer Platz cor. Leipziger Platz, Berlin, Germany; Lafayette Mogador, Paris, France; Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo, Japan; ION Orchard, Singapore; Yonge-Dundas Square, Toronto, Canada; Darlinghurst, Sydney, Australia; and Paiknam Building, Jung-gu, Seoul, Korea.
The DOT also said that Filipinos should continue to use the hashtag #PHthankyou so that people around the world can also continue to share their support and appreciation.
“…the world has been one with the Philippines in helping rebuild the nation – from sending relief goods, doing medical missions, all the way to pledging funds for the reconstruction of infrastructure,” the statement from the DOT noted.
“This Saturday, February 8, 2014 exactly three months after the typhoon, we want to be one in expressing our gratitude,” the agency further said.
“We are Filipinos. We are resilient, grateful, and fun-loving people. And that’s why even as we are still recovering, we already want to show our thanks,” it added. (PNA)