Palace: US toned down warning on RP

The United States has moderated its travel advisory to the Philippines to take into account tighter security against possible new terror attacks in the country, Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said yesterday.

Tiglao said the Palace welcomed the revision of the US State Department advisory that had cast the Philippines in a negative light.

The previous advisory earlier warned Americans against traveling to parts of Mindanao where kidnappings and bombings have taken place.

Tiglao said he had been informed that the new advisory acknowledges that Philippine security forces "have put into place extra security measures ... to deter possible terrorist attacks."

"It specifically stated that Philippine authorities have confirmed that they have put into place extra security measures to deter possible terrorist attacks and protect the public, including resident and traveling foreigners," he said.

He stressed that the US State Department was not advising Americans not to come to the country, but was only telling them to "exercise caution and vigilance" while in the Philippines.

"There are two types of what are informally called ‘travel advisories’ by the State Department," he explained. "Travel warnings are issued to recommend that Americans avoid travel to a certain country. Meanwhile, public announcements are issued to disseminate information about terrorist threats and other conditions posing significant risks to the security of American travelers."

Tiglao disclosed that as of yesterday, there were 25 countries in the US State Department’s list of travel warnings. "The Philippines is not in the list," he said.

At the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Cambodia, ASEAN Secretary General Rodolfo Severino said ASEAN leaders felt Western governments, through their travel advisories, were unfairly labelling the region as excessively dangerous.

The US State Department on Thursday urged its citizens here to take extra precautionary measures, saying the US embassy received information that terrorist groups "may be planning to attempt bomb attacks in public areas" between now and the end of the year.

There has been a rash of bomb attacks over the last month, mostly in Zamboanga City, which killed at least 12 people, one of them a US commando, and wounded dozens of others.

A bomb blast aboard a bus in Manila on Oct. 18 killed two people and wounded at least 19 others.

Five suspected Muslim extremists have been arrested for the Zamboanga bombings. The blasts have fanned fears of attacks similar to the Oct. 12 bombings in Bali, Indonesia, which claimed over 180 lives. – AFP, Paolo Romero