A viral video showing employees of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) dancing the popular “It Really Hurts” challenge is not part of the Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) official communication campaign, a high-ranking government official said today.
However, Transportation Assistant Secretary Goddess Libiran defended the video, which she said was made by a group of “well-meaning” LTO employees from the Central Luzon office.
“That is not an official campaign video. That content was not posted on the official media platform of the LTO or the DOTr,” she told ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo.
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The video was not conceptualized by the DOTr but by the employees “who wanted to help promote the campaigns of the agency,” she added.
In the video, the women can be seen dancing and imitating the hand gestures of influencer Mimiyuuuh. The original song’s lyrics were altered to mention the various penalties that drivers would face if they commit traffic violations.
It drew flak earlier this week from the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) which said that the “gyrating” LTO employees should have used “better and more effective ways to express” their message instead of doing the challenge. The PCW added that the LTO should “raise the consciousness of the general public in recognizing the dignity of women and the role and contribution of women in the family, community, and society through the strategic use of mass media.”
However, Libiran insisted that the video served its purpose.
“Instead of making it for fun only, they made it educational. They altered the lyrics of the song and their message is… it really hurts if you have to pay a fine in this pandemic so you have to be a good driver on the road. That’s the message they want to tell people,” Libiran said.
“From my own perspective, it’s speaking on the language of the stakeholders… a lot were able to relate to it, drivers, commuters, millennials,” she explained further.
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