Life Today PH

MANILA — 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, fuelling 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.

“𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘯𝘢 𝘱𝘰 𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘯𝘢 𝘪𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘢 𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯 (𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨),” said Josh Cullen of SB19.

“𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘉𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢, 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦.”

That pull reaches well beyond Philippine shores. SB19 has cultivated dedicated A’TIN chapters across ASEAN, the United States, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates, among other countries, with international fans regularly flying into the Philippines for the group’s concerts.

In earlier tours, a number of A’TIN chapters had organized tribute projects such as fan-funded billboards abroad to celebrate the members. This growing overseas following mirrors the very markets the DOT is looking to tap for inbound tourism.

Known for personally conceptualizing their own music videos and content, the five members of SB19 have long woven Filipino heritage into their artistry, most notably in “GENTO,” their global breakout hit.

This partnership announcement gives the hitmaking group an even bigger platform to carry that same spirit forward.

This partnership arrives as SB19 carries the Philippine flag across a series of historic global milestones.

On July 29, they will become the first Filipino group to throw the ceremonial first pitch at a Major League Baseball game, ahead of the Chicago White Sox vs. New York Yankees matchup. A day later, on July 30, they will be the first Filipino act to perform at Lollapalooza in Grant Park, Chicago, one of the largest music festivals in the world.

The group’s international reach extends further into August, with performances at Summer Sonic 2026 in Osaka and Tokyo, Japan, alongside fellow Filipino acts ena mori and BINI, the latter of which were recently named Tourism Ambassadors as well.

The DOT and SB19 are set to finalize details for a series of succeeding events showcasing the finest of Philippine tourism in the coming months, with more announcements to follow.