EDITORIAL - Mugged in BGC

For some years now, South Koreans have accounted for the biggest number of visitors in the Philippines. Last year, they topped the arrivals with 1.6 million visiting the Philippines – nearly a third of the 5.9 million total.
Even at the height of the COVID pandemic, as travel restrictions started easing, South Koreans constituted the largest number of visitors in the Philippines.
So it’s a shame that instead of growing, the number of Korean visitors could go down due to concerns over personal safety. The number is already down by 18.03 percent from January to April this year compared to the same period in 2024, according to the Department of Tourism.
Recently the South Korean embassy released a list of “precautionary measures” to its citizens in the Philippines especially during late-night hours. The advisory was issued after two South Koreans were robbed at gunpoint at 11:40 p.m. on May 17 by four men on two motorcycles. The victims were strolling on the sidewalk along 9th Avenue in front of One Park Drive when the robbers pulled up.
Apart from citing a “deteriorating crime situation,” the embassy warned that “armed robberies, deaths, abductions, and other serious crimes against Korean nationals are frequently occurring.” It said the armed robbery of Koreans in BGC, which is considered a “relatively safe” area, “is a very concerning situation.”
The advisory at least did not tell Koreans to avoid going to the Philippines. This was despite safety concerns they have raised since Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo was kidnapped from his home in Pampanga in a fake drug bust staged in 2016 by the Philippine National Police Drug Enforcement Group led by Rafael Dumlao III.
Jee was taken to Camp Crame where he was executed in his own car near the PDEG headquarters, even after his wife had paid a P5-million ransom. The body was cremated in a funeral parlor and the ashes flushed down the toilet.
Dumlao, whose wife reportedly works in law enforcement, was freed on bail by a Pampanga trial court. He remains at large after the Court of Appeals overturned his acquittal and sentenced him to life in prison as the mastermind in Jee’s kidnapping and execution.
Koreans aren’t the only ones worried about their safety. Even Filipinos are concerned about being robbed at gunpoint in what is supposed to be one of the most well-secured high-end enclaves in the country. Improving peace and order should be among the priorities of President Marcos in the ongoing “bold reset” of his government.
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