26/07/2026
๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ต ๐ป๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฃ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐' ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ง๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐บ ๐๐บ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฟ
๐-๐๐ฐ๐ฑ ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐จ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ญ๐ข ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐จ๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ญ๐บ-๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ป๐ข ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ค ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ญ
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 โGalingbayanโ 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.
โ๐๐19โ๐ด ๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ โ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ค ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ง๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ด, ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ, ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ,โ she said. โ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐.๐., ๐ธ๐ฆโ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ: ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ-๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐19 ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด, ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ง.โ
โ๐๐ฆโ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐๐19โ๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ช๐ด ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ง๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ช๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ค๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ตโ๐ด ๐ข ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ-๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ง๐ญ๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ง๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ข๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ง๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ช๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ข ๐ง๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ, ๐๐19 ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ตโ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ,โ 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.
"๐๐ข๐ต๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฐ ๐ช๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ช๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐บ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ (๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ฆ'๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ)," said Josh Cullen of SB19. "๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฆ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐บ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ค ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ต๐ด, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ข๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข, ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ."
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 AโTIN 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.
