An unsafe country in Asia

The result of the survey on crime and personal security by the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd. is not surprising to many Filipinos. That the Philippines is the most unsafe country in Asia has been suspected for some time. To a certain extent, the survey, which also ranks the authoritarian but economically prosperous Singapore as the safest haven in the region, is only validation of every Filipino's fears.

The government will, of course, dispute the findings of the survey. We have heard it all before: that rampant crime on the streets is not a reality but just a perception and that the press is sensationalizing the situation; that the Philippines is not even a shadow of New York in terms of criminality; and that the country is big and archipelagic in contrast with Singapore, which is just a city-state.

These tired, old arguments have some basis in fact, but they do not in any way improve the situation. So what if the streets of New York are more dangerous than those of Metro Manila? Does this make the Philippines any more safe? And who cares if the Philippines has a bigger land area than Singapore? Is that an excuse for being unsafe?

True, crime in the country has been declining over the last six years, but law enforcement agencies cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, talk of a favorable peace and order situation. Filipinos certainly cannot find comfort in almost 20,000 crimes recorded in the first three months of the year. Who would, when an average of almost 200 crimes are reported every day?

Being labeled the least safe country in the most dynamic region of the world is not the best incentive to lure and encourage investors to "stay with us", despite the pledge that "the best is yet to come". It can only stall the buildup of economic activity, stop the flow of money and arrest the generation of jobs. Worse still, it might take ages before the country can get over the label of being an unsafe destination.

-- The Manila Times