US issues travel ban in South

The US warned Americans yesterday against tra-veling to southern and western areas of Mindanao and urged "great caution" in planning travel to other parts of the island and the Palawan archipelago.

The US State Department issued the travel advisory a day after three Americans were kidnapped along with 17 Filipino tourists and workers in a plush resort off Puerto Princesa City in Palawan.

Authorities identified the American nationals as missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham and Guillermo Sobero who were snatched at the Dos Palmas resort on Arrecife Island in Honda Bay.

The advisory warned Americans "to avoid all travel" to southern and western Mindanao, which covers the Zamboanga provinces and the nearby islands of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Also included in the advisory are the areas of the Davao provinces, where armed men raided on May 22 the popular resort Barcelo Pearl Farm on Samal island off Davao City, killing two people and wounding three others.

The armed men who raided the Palawan and Davao resorts are suspected to be members of the Abu Sayyaf bandit group which kidnapped 21 tourists in a Malaysian island resort last year.

"There is concern that the (Abu Sayyaf group) or other groups may take additional actions against US citizens and other foreigners. Americans should exercise great caution when considering travel to resorts on Mindanao and Palawan," the advisory read.

The United Kingdom also issued an advisory against travel to southern and western Mindanao.

"There has been an increase in kidnapping throughout the Philippines including Manila and popular Philippine beach resorts. We strongly advise against all travel to southern and western Mindanao," read the British travel advisory.

The Swedish embassy likewise advised its citizens to be extra cautious when traveling to resorts in Palawan as well as southern and western Mindanao.

"They are taking civilians who haven’t done anything. The tourists come here because of their love for this country. This is a beautiful country. These (terrorist) actions have to be taken care of. This should be heavily condemned by everyone," said Swedish Ambassador Ulf Hakkanson.

The Chinese embassy also said it was an unfortunate incident and expressed hopes the government would take measures that could solve the problem soonest.

"We express our concern for the safety of the hostages," said Chinese embassy spokesperson Wang Luo.

Airline executives from Taiwan and Hong Kong disclosed that their governments have also issued travel advisories warning their nationals against traveling to Mindanao.

While their advisory did not advise against travel to the Philippines, Taiwanese already in the country were warned to confine their stay in the Metro Manila area.

The French embassy has yet to issue a formal travel advisory but asked its nationals to "be reasonably prudent" and find out the security situation in areas that they are planning to visit.

"We are aware of the risks for the tourists to be in resorts. We are concerned about it but we are confident the Philippines can solve this problem," the embassy said.

The Japanese embassy has a standing travel advisory because of previous security-related incidents involving their nationals in Metro Manila and Mindanao.

Acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Franklin Ebdalin said tourism will likely suffer a significant drop in the coming months because of threats to peace and security.

But Ebdalin said the foreign office would instruct all its overseas missions to explain to the international community that these are isolated incidents. – With Rey Arquiza