GMA: UK travel advisory ‘unfair, baseless’

President Arroyo strongly refuted yesterday Britain’s latest travel advisory issued against the Philippines.

"The travel warning is unfair and baseless. There has not been a single terrorism-related attack in the country for sometime now," she said.

The President appealed to other countries "to refrain from such travel warnings and other unwarranted statements that elicit unreasonable impressions of the state of Philippine law and order."

She said while the Philippines is a "terrorist target like several nations, our preparedness is high and unrelenting," citing the government’s recent successes in its anti-terror campaign.

Alleged Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) bomb expert Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi, who escaped with two Abu Sayyaf bandits in July, was gunned down in Pigkawayan, North Cotabato Sunday night.

Abdulmukim Edris was gunned down in early August, while Omar Opik Lasal was caught shortly before Al-Ghozi himself fell into government hands.

"Al-Ghozi and his cohorts have been accounted for and their potential threats have been neutralized," the President said. — Marichu Villanueva