Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim said the travel advisories issued by several governments are not likely to cause a big decline in the number of foreign tourists coming to the country.

The United States, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand have updated their travel advisories, urging their respective nationals to exercise a high degree of caution in the Philippines because of the high threat of terrorist attack.

“It’s not really a travel ban but just an advisory, which means that the matter of traveling to the Philippines is left to the discretion of their citizens, so tourists cannot be prevented from coming here,” Lim said.

Lim said travelers from European countries usually visit the country in the first quarter and not at this time of the year.

He said Australian tourists make up only four percent of foreign visitors while UK travelers comprise only three percent of total tourists in country.

“But if ever there is any effect in the local tourism industry, we expect it to be very minimal,” Lim added.

Lim said travel agencies have not reported any cancellation of tours following the issuance of travel advisories against the Philippines due to alleged terrorist threat.

The DOT said that the Australian government has issued similar travel advisories to several countries in Asia and the latest advisory was just a renewed warning.

“While the advisories are given, foreign visitors are assured that major tourist destinations here remain generally safe. Tour groups from major source markets continue to arrive in large numbers and there have been no cancellations of visits,” the DOT reported.

DOT said it would coordinate with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for the immediate lifting of the travel advisories from at least five countries.

Lim said the DOT and other private agencies would send a marketing mission to London next week in an effort to encourage more tourists from UK to come to the Philippines.

“The timing of the marketing mission may not be good, but we will be continuing with our plan because the advisory is just temporary and we hope to lure more tourists to visit our country next year,” Lim pointed out.

Lim said DOT is also working with the Philippine National Police (PNP) for the strengthening of existing measures for the protection of foreign and local tourists.

He said DOT would also negotiate with the Bureau of Immigration to speed up the issuance of visas to travelers from the country’s top markets.

Local businessmen said the travel advisories issued by the foreign governments would have minimal effect on foreign investments in the country.

“The impact will be minimal because travel advisories are short-term issuances. Investors will not be looking at travel advisories when they invest. The effect will be felt mostly in the tourism sector,” said Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) chairman Sergio Ortiz-Luis.

Ortiz-Luis explained that tourists are the only ones who listen to travel advisories.

He also questioned the decision of the US to issue the travel advisory. “Why is the Philippines being singled out? Why pick on the Philippines?” the businessman asked.

“All our neighbors have terrorist threats. The terrorism in the Philippines is isolated in the South,” he said.

Jesus Arranza, chairman of the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI), said that these countries should not have issued the travel advisory unless “they know something we don’t.”

“The threat is highly exaggerated. How can they say that a terrorist will attack Metro Manila unless they know something we don’t and if so, then they need to share that information with us,” Arranza said in a separate interview.

Speaker calls for vigilance

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. called on Filipinos to heighten vigilance in light of the terror warnings from foreign governments, but stressed those officials must immediately confirm whether there is really an imminent attack in the metropolis.

“It pays for the public to be vigilant,” Belmonte said. “The authorities, however, must respond quickly to these warnings. What is the basis for these warnings? Do they have their own independent confirmation or are these (warnings) just part of their (foreign governments) automatic responses to incidents?” he said.

Belmonte said the country’s security agencies have maintained there are no credible threats at this time.

Cebu Rep. Pablo John Garcia, chairman of the House committee on public order, said his panel is being regularly briefed by the Philippine National Police and other concerned agencies on the country’s security situation.

He said the committee would convene again when Congress resumes session on Nov. 8 to determine the shortcomings of the authorities in monitoring terror threats.

“I urge the authorities to be pro-active in coordinating in terms of intelligence sharing with foreign agencies so that our country will be prepared,” Ang Kasangga party-list Rep. Teodorico Haresco said.

Ang Galing Pinoy party-list Rep. Mikey Arroyo said the authorities can tap the country’s “blue army” or security guards in detecting possible terror threats.

DIWA party-list Rep. Emmeline Aglipay, whose constituents also include security guards, said the authorities must not underestimate the capability of the sector and must also be included in information gathering against crime and terror.

A foreign embassy conveyed to the Philippines their intelligence information about terrorist threat before they updated their travel advisory.

DFA spokesman J. Eduardo Malaya told The STAR yesterday that one of the foreign embassies that updated their travel advisory on the Philippines informed the government security agency about the intelligence information they received.

But Malaya declined to identify the foreign embassy.

“Our expectation is that whenever foreign embassies have intelligence information about any terrorist threat which may be useful to our security agencies, they will convey it to our side in a timely manner. We have been informed that such has been done very recently,” Malaya said.

“We understand the need of foreign embassies to issue travel advisories for their respective nationals. They have an obligation to look after the safety and security of their nationals here, in the same way that our Philippine diplomats look after the security and welfare of Filipinos overseas,” he added.

Mayen Jaymalin, Philippine Star