The new hash tag of Dumaguete City, the capital of Negros Oriental, has come under a lot of criticism but city officials are defending its adoption saying it will further attract visitors here.
City Tourism Officer Jacqueline Veloso Antonio explained on Friday why the city approved the hash tag #DumaGetMe.
The hash tag will be featured in the new signage that the city government will soon erect to replace the old one, which bore the phrase “I Love Dumaguete” but with a heart instead of the word Love in the middle.
Antonio explained the signage that is being fabricated now is about two meters in height and is funded by the Negros Oriental Association in America.
Under the hash tag #DumaGeTmE, with capital letters D G T E, is the word Dumaguete as part of the marketing campaign of the city.
As the mayor said, the hash tag #DumaGeTmE was not just taken out of nowhere but from the history books, she said.
By typing #DumaGeTmE, all images related to Dumaguete will be made available online.
Historically, Dumaguete comes from the word “dagit” which means to snatch or to hold captive.
Through the years, the city has captivated the hearts and minds of foreigners, tourists, visitors who come to visit Dumaguete.
When they leave, Antonio said they would usually say “Dumaguete got me” or in the vernacular “nadagit gyud ko sa Dumaguete.” Thus, the hash tag #DumaGeTmE.
However, some people do not like the idea of changing the old signage of “I Love Dumaguete”, which was a promotion campaign of the previous administration.
Antonio said it was a good campaign. In fact, what the new administration was doing was to improve on the project of her predecessor in the city tourism office.
“In Dumaguete, we take pride of being a university town, with a vibrant artistic community and a lot of creative mind where we can collaborate regarding many of their projects and the new signage is one of them”, Antonio pointed out.
The city tourism officer understands the apprehensions of the public, which she said is understandable because other people are resistant to change. She stressed it is not bad with coming up with something new for Dumaguete.
#DumaGeTmE is a play of words, and it is now the challenge of Dumageteños on how to further capture the hearts and minds of visitors.
One of the features of the new signage to be launched in September this year is the modular design where busted lights can be removed and repaired without necessarily removing the signage from its location.
It has a small bridge at the back for the safety of everybody. The position and the kind of the lights used are also being emphasized.
Antonio enjoins Dumagueteños to be on board in this campaign because “the only way that we can be assured of a very successful marketing campaign is when we have the entire community backing us up”, she quipped. (Juancho Gallarde/PNA)
