𝗦𝗕𝟭𝟵 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀' 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗧𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗔𝗺𝗯𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗿 𝘗-𝘗𝘰𝘱 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘭𝘢 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘨𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘺-𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘓𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘻𝘢 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘍𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭 The Department of Tourism (DOT) has officially named global P-Pop powerhouse SB19 as the Philippines' newest Tourism Ambassadors, recognizing the group not only as a source of national pride, but as one of the country's finest representatives of Filipino culture. The announcement follows a subtle digital activation over the weekend that gave A'TIN, SB19's global fanbase, a glimpse of what was to come. Ahead of the group's US and Japan tour leg, the DOT sent the quintet a “Galingbayan” box as a send-off package, posted across its official social platforms, Tourism Philippines. A corrugated care package traditionally sent home by overseas Filipinos to their families, the balikbayan box is one of the most powerful cultural symbols in the Philippines as it represents love expressed through sacrifice and connection across distances. The members acknowledged the gesture on their social media accounts today, and confirmed their ambassadorship. Prior to this, the DOT set the internet abuzz on July 23 after posting five goat emojis across its social media platforms, fueling widespread speculation about the partnership. The formal naming follows an earlier interview with Tourism Secretary Dita Angara-Mathay, where she teased that two P-Pop groups would be named the Philippines' next tourism ambassadors. In a statement, Secretary Angara-Mathay underscored the value SB19 brings as representatives of the nation. “𝘚𝘉19’𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 — 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴, 𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦, 𝘈𝘚𝘌𝘈𝘕, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥,” she said. “𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜.𝘚., 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭: 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰-𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘉19 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘧.” “𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘈𝘚𝘌𝘈𝘕, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘚𝘉19’𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰-𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘢𝘪𝘸𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘉𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘬𝘰𝘬 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘚𝘉19 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯,” Secretary Angara-Mathay added. As Tourism Ambassadors, SB19 will work with the DOT to encourage A'TIN worldwide to visit the Philippines and experience its culture firsthand. Images courtesy of Facebook: SB19 and Department of Tourism - Philippines #sb19 #philippinetourism #ambassador #lovephilippines #fyp