Unnecessary warning<\/p>\n
Philippine Daily Inquirer
\nAsia News Network
\nManila<\/p>\n
At the summit meeting of the leaders of the Association of
\nSoutheast Asian Nations in Phnom Penh (last week), terrorism and
\ntourism were almost always mentioned in the same breath.<\/p>\n
Concerned over the fall in tourist arrivals, the leaders
\ndecried the efforts of the United States and many other Western
\ncountries to discourage their nationals from visiting the region
\non account of terrorist threats.<\/p>\n
As a result, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said, tourism
\nwas declining at a time when \"ASEAN countries are more than ever
\nworking together to protect our tourist destinations from
\nterrorist attacks.''<\/p>\n
It now appears that Arroyo was wrong -- at least partially and
\nrather happily so. According to the Bureau of Immigration, more
\nforeigners have been coming to the country during the first 10
\nmonths of the year than last year.<\/p>\n
From January to October, the bureau counted 1,578,198 foreign
\narrivals compared with 1,512,145 the previous year, a modest
\nincrease of 4.36 percent. Interestingly the number of foreign
\nvisitors shot up to 132,702 in October this year, compared to
\nonly 97,081 during the same month last year.<\/p>\n
And the figures are not even all in yet, according to Tourism
\nSecretary Richard Gordon. The numbers for this year include only
\nthose who arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, so
\nthere should be a little bit more when the reports of arrivals
\ncome in from the country's three other international airports in
\nLaoag, Cebu and Davao.<\/p>\n
How was the country able to buck the region-wide slump in
\nvisitor arrivals that everyone in the tourism industry has been
\ncomplaining about? Ever cheerleader Gordon said the increase
\nshowed the \"resiliency\" of the country's tourism industry in the
\nface of terrorism. He said the Philippines continued to be \"one
\nof the safest tourist destinations in the world.\"<\/p>\n
Gordon must be joking or he is talking about a different
\ncountry. In October alone, 20 people were killed in nine bombing
\nincidents that occurred in places as varied as Zamboanga City and
\nKidapawan, both in Mindanao, Pampanga, La Union and Metro Manila.<\/p>\n
Going back a few months, scores of Filipinos and foreigners
\nhave been abducted from just about anywhere, including the pricey
\nDos Palmas resort in Palawan.<\/p>\n
Before that kidnapping crisis was over, two Americans had been
\nkilled -- one by beheading at the hands of his Abu Sayyaf
\nabductors and the other in the crossfire during the rescue of the
\nremaining hostages. In the last few weeks, all the police and
\nmilitary could talk about was the possibility of more terrorist
\nattacks, especially in crowded places, and the local cells of
\ninternational terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda and Jamaah
\nIslamiyah.<\/p>\n
Filipinos, to their credit, may not have allowed themselves to
\nbe paralyzed by fear in the face of all this violence. But to
\nforeigners such incidents hardly make the country an attractive
\ndestination, unless of course they are themselves up to no good,
\nlike the few al-Qaeda operatives who have been caught here.<\/p>\n
Gordon has noted that despite the negative advisories,
\nJapanese, Korean and Chinese tourists continue to visit the
\nPhilippines. He and other tourism officials should hasten to find
\nout why.<\/p>\n
Unless the immigration data are wrong or these Asian tourists
\nhave a fascination for danger, it looks curious that they would
\nbe coming in greater numbers to our neck of the woods now. Their
\nreasons could very well be the key to the survival, if not the
\nprogress of the industry.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, it's futile to try to persuade the United
\nStates and other Western governments to take back their
\nadvisories advising their citizens against making trips to the
\nPhilippines at this time.<\/p>\n
U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher has explained
\nthat his government has the responsibility to warn Americans
\nabout potential dangers they might face when they come here.
\nUrging caution is the least any government should do when it
\nperceives danger to its citizens.<\/p>\n
And when the Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Gen. Benjamin
\nDefensor, describes the terrorist threat in our part of the world
\nas \"at a heightened stage\" and the government succeeds in having
\n10,000 communist guerrillas of the New People's Army classified
\nas a terrorist organization, the issuance of a travel advisory by
\nany foreign government becomes unnecessary.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/unnecessary-warning-1447893297",
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