Spate of killings in Cebu worries business leaders

CEBU, Philippines — Safety concerns in Cebu have continued to escalate amid the recent killing incidents, and the business community is worried about the situation.

Cebu has to step up efforts to ensure peace and order to retain investor interest, said Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry vice president Steven Yu.

“We sincerely hope that PNP (Philippine National Police) will double their efforts and resolve the killings so as not to hamper the growth momentum of Cebu,” the businessman told The FREEMAN.

“After all, (Cebu) needs peace and order to sell itself to investors,” Yu pointed out.

He was hopeful the situation won’t reach a critical point.   In recent months, Cebu has been in the forefront of a series of killings, raising concerns on the safety and security in the province amid these incidents.Unfortunately most of these killing incidents remain unresolved until now.

The most recent killing that happened in Cebu involved four people killed by unknown gunmen in Talisay City last week.

“For now, it has not reached critical point and we hope that it will not, and will decelerate from hereon,” Yu said.

“We believe that PNP is aware and is working to control the situation,” he added.

While businesses aren’t directly affected yet by the killings, they, however, are also pushed to step up security in their premises.

“Businesses are not yet affected by it but feels the anxiety and the need to increase security preparations for their establishments,” the MCCI official said.

“Investor interest is starting to be affected by it albeit on a minor scale yet especially that it has reached national publicity with the Senate investigation,” he noted.

Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu (HRRAC) president Carlo Suarez had previously said the recent killings had started “to be alarming”, raising concerns of what could this possibly impact to the tourism industry.  

Although he said the sector remained unaffected.

He noted hotel and resort players are still enjoying at least 80 percent occupancy for the last recent months.

“We expect more tourist arrivals especially during the ‘ber’ months,” the official had said.