New CD-ROM gives a glimpse of Philippine tourism

IT took a foreign company, the ingenuity of its Filipino staff and the determination to create something noble to help immortalize the country’s rich culture.

Barely a year since its pre-operation in July 2000, Miroku Images Inc. has come up with "Philippines: Tourism and Industry," the country’s first digital collection of high-resolution photos in CD-ROM.

"I really want to promote Philippine images and show how blessed we are as Filipinos," says Mylene Kasilag, country manager of Miroku Images. "And with the new trend of royalty-free images on CD plus the expertise of Daiichi System Graphics, we are able to produce quality imagery from the works of renowned Filipino photographers Donald Tapan, George Cabig and Lester Ledesma," Kasilag says.

This lexicon of Philippine images, composed of 150 beautiful photographs of festivals, churches, beaches, landmarks, agricultural and livelihood products, are readily available for the design of calendar, postcard, textbook, brochure and other promotional materials.

Each image was scanned in Hong Kong in 30 megabytes at 300 dpi and in CMYK colors.

Miroku Images is the Manila office of Hong Kong-based Daiichi Color Group Ltd. The company has one of the most extensive collection of images in the industry with over a hundred categories for stock photo library and royalty-free images on CD-ROM. It supplies advertising agencies, design studios, individual clients or other institutions’ photo requirements.

Photo or image library is considered a young industry in the country having started only in 1985.

"It’s the Department of Tourism which will benefit most from the CD," Kasilag says of the collection.

The DOT through tourism attaché Araceli Soriano lauded the project saying that it is "a very impressive CD on Philippine attractions and destinations, an excellent impetus and source material for various researches and promotions on the Philippines."

Soriano adds, "It is one effective tool that would eventually serve to encourage people-to-people exchanges among countries which builds mutual respect and understanding of cultures.

"Philippines: Tourism and Industry" also provides a slide show ideal for viewing in school. The teacher can use the CD to show pictures of the Moriones festival or the Bogobos or the Aetas to provoke healthy debates and forums among students.

"Each image has a brief description to aid any researcher, author, publisher or designer of a book or website in their selection of images," says Kasilag.

Miroku also markets its mother company Daiichi Color Group’s main business, which is color separation and printing.

Daiichi prints annual reports such as that of United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB), WG&A, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) and GMA Network Inc., glossy magazines including "Pulp" and "Mabuhay," the in-flight magazine of Philippine Airlines, coffeetable books like "Camp John Hay," "Yuchengco Group," "Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo" and with its latest "2001 Philippines Yearbook" and "Tawi-Tawi: The Southernmost Frontier."

Daiichi opened the first comprehensive color separation outfit in Southeast Asia in 1969 which later revolutionized the region’s printing industry. It also pioneered stock photo library in Southeast Asia.

Asked what makes Miroku Images distinct, Kasilag says, "we are able to bring out the best-looking legacy of our people and our heritage."

For more information on the Philippines CD-ROM, you may call Miroku Images at 637-9788 to 89 or e-mail miroku(@info.com.ph.