The Eras Tour, and all about being ‘scooped’

REPRESENTATIVE Joey Salceda of Albay is in my list of most respected economists in the country. He can explain complex macroeconomic policies to reporters without batting an eyelash.

As the province’s former governor, he instituted the “zero-casualty” policy in disaster preparedness and resilience that the national government later emulated. His legislative accomplishments include the “TRAIN,” “CREATE,” and “Free College Tuition” laws.

This is why I was a bit disappointed after I read his press release about pop icon Taylor Swift’s exclusive concert contract in Singapore:

“House Ways and Means Chair Joey Sarte Salceda [Albay, Second District] requested the Department of Foreign Affairs to send a note verbale to the Singaporean Embassy [and] request an explanation for the alleged exclusivity terms in the grant given by the Singapore Tourism Board [STB] and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth to AEG Presents—the production company that presented the concert of international pop star Taylor Swift.”

His press release read: “Salceda said that the alleged terms, which supposedly prevented AEG from bringing the concert in other Southeast Asian countries—if true— ‘isn’t what good neighbors do.’”

Seriously? Can we look at our own shortcomings first before asking the island-state why it outsmarted us?

After the pandemic, the easiest and fastest way to economic recovery is through tourism. For more than two years, people were deprived of travel, so their natural tendency is to go out and spend lost quality time with families and friends.

Exclusivity/confidentiality

LET’S take a look at the monies involved first: Can the Department of Tourism afford to offer Swift’s concert producers a similar exclusive deal?

How much budget did the House of Representatives give the Tourism Department (DOT)? In 2023, it’s P3.573 billion, or $63 million.

How much did the Singapore government pay Swift’s team in exchange for the exclusive right to hold a concert in Southeast Asia? If Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s information was correct, the exclusivity deal was worth over $3 million, or P168 million.

At a glance, with that big of a budget, the Philippines can offer a counter deal. But remember, 2023 was also a banner year for basketball as country-host of the FIBA Basketball World Cup. The DOT must have spent millions for tourism-related activities for FIBA, as well as with the new “Love the Philippines” campaign and “Bisita, Be My Guest” or “BBM Guest” program.

When I checked on the budget allocated by the Singaporean government to the STB in 2023, an audit report said it got a grant worth SG$314 million, or about P13 billion. So definitely, it can afford to offer an exclusivity deal.

(According to Bloomberg, there has been some online speculation as to the size of the grant, said Edwin Tong who is the minister for culture, community and youth, to the parliament: “It is not accurate and not anywhere as high as speculated, but due to business confidentiality reasons, we cannot reveal the specific size of the grant or the conditions of the grant.”)

Advance info

IT still begs another question on whether the DOT knew beforehand that the four-time Grammy winner was scheduled to have a worldwide concert prior to its announcement in November 2022.

Salceda thinks that by snagging that exclusive Eras Tour’s Southeast Asia deal, Singapore violated the Asean principle of consensus-based relations and solidarity.

Mr. Congressman, in journalistic parlance, this is a classic case of “getting scooped.”

We should accept defeat if another country was smarter and more creative (and richer) than us to offer an exclusive concert deal with one of the best singer-artists of this generation. This should serve as a lesson for us, for lawmakers, and for our tourism officials that the next time an opportunity like a Taylor Swift concert presents itself, the Philippines should be prepared to offer a counter deal.

Better yet, we should create our own opportunities ourselves. We should not show our children that we are sore losers in this competitive world, even if our neighbor professes “solidarity.”

My editor in chief has one piece of good advice whenever I sulk after getting scooped: “Don’t get mad. Get even!”