Philippines safe for travel, business – DTI chief chiefecs

MANILA, Philippines -  It’s still safe to travel – and to invest – in the Philippines, economic managers stressed yesterday even after foreign governments issued travel warnings on the country because of possible terrorist attacks. 

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said President Duterte has ordered security forces to use all available assets to crush terrorist groups in Mindanao. 

“In the last ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) summit, security cooperation was discussed precisely to address the realities of terrorism. But in our country, as you know, that’s being contained very well,” Lopez said in a press conference in Hong Kong. 

“The President talked about his approach and he has been using all resources of government – military, police – to really run after the terrorist groups (and to) address the security problem, most especially in the Mindanao area,” he added. 

Lopez said development cannot be achieved if the country does not resolve its peace and order issues. 

The US and the United Kingdom recently issued travel warnings about plans by terrorists to stage attacks and to kidnap foreign nationals in Palawan.

The UK has added Cebu and other parts of Mindanao as areas to be avoided by its citizens.

The UK government, through its Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), advised against all travel to western Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago, citing terrorist activity and clashes between the military and insurgent groups.

The FCO also warned against traveling to Mindanao and towns in southern Cebu province, citing the threat of terrorism.

It cited “unsubstantiated but credible information” received by Philippine authorities that terrorist group Abu Sayyaf may be about to conduct kidnappings in the waters between Sulu and Sabah, Malaysia.

The advisories came after the US, UK and several other foreign governments alerted their citizens about a kidnapping threat in Bohol, a province attacked by bandit group Abu Sayyaf last month. 

President Duterte has ordered the military to conduct air raids to contain the spread of the terrorists, whom he said are being funded by the illegal drug trade. 

 Uncompromising

 In the same press briefing, officials assured investors efforts are underway to fast track the implementation of key infrastructure projects. 

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade also said Duterte has been very particular in addressing safety issues and curbing corruption. 

“We are trying to show the economic persona of the President, that he will also handle not only peace and safety but more importantly the economic development of country in relation to the development from within, as we consider the relationship from without,” he said. 

“Hopefully, we can see a completed persona of President Duterte – one that is very uncompromising in corruption, one that is very committed in peace and security and one that is concentrated and concerned with the development and growth of our country.”

Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said Duterte is determined to eliminate corruption and unnecessary processes that hamper the completion of state projects. 

“We can see the President is very focused on improving and creating a pipeline of projects that can be implemented at the soonest possible time,” Villar said.

“This is the time we have to work together. We have to make sure everyone is on board. If you are not, you have to step aside for everyone else. We will not tolerate slowness... Our commitment is we have no tolerance for people who are moving slowly.”

Villar said the Duterte administration is committed to implementing projects at the “fastest possible time.” 

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said the speedy planning and execution of projects is in line with the administration’s economic program, “Dutertenomics.”

“We’re going to depart from practices of previous administrations. The (project) takes so long to get processed and implemented,” Pernia said. 

“President Duterte is action-oriented. He admits he is impatient because he wants to get things done, to quickly alleviate the suffering of the people,” he added. 

The Duterte administration is planning to spend more than P8 trillion for various projects to usher in what it described as a “golden age of infrastructure.”

The infrastructure program consists of several big-ticket items, including a P300-billion subway system. A loan agreement on the project, which will link key parts of Metro Manila, may be signed by the Philippine and Japanese governments in November.  

Tugade said a settlement on the North Rail project may also be finalized by the end of the month.