Japan issues travel advisory vs robberies, kidnaps

MANILA, Philippines - The government of Japan has also issued its own travel advisory on the Philippines, but unlike the six nations that warned against travel here, this had nothing to do with any threats of terrorism.

Japanese Ambassador Makoto Katsura, in a pre-Asia Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) briefing held at his residence yesterday, said that the advisory was merely a reminder for Japanese visitors to the Philippines to take the usual necessary precautions because of the possibility of being a victim of criminal activity.

The advisory was one that the embassy issues regularly, specifically near the end of the year when a significant number of Japanese tourists travel to the Philippines.

“So we just ask them to take safety measures against any security concerns like robbery and kidnapping,” Matsura said.

He emphasized that his government’s advisory was “completely different in nature” to those issued by the United States, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Canada and France.

The six nations came out with their respective advisories one after the other within a matter of days, all of which warned of an imminent terrorist attack.

Security forces confirmed that they were aware of a terrorist threat on the country but could not confirm if this was the same information used by the six nations when they issued their advisories.

Matsura said that the embassy’s advisory did not discourage Japanese tourists from traveling to the Philippines.

What it did was to ask the tourists to “take safety measures against any security concerns like robbery and kidnapping.”

“Our advice is quite different from them. We just remind them of the possible security (risks). We advise them to take precautionary measures,” Matsura said.

He said that the Japanese embassy had no idea what information was used by the six nations.

“I don’t know what kind of networks those countries have. But any embassy has to protect its nationals or visitors. Every embassy has to provide relevant information. We don’t know why they issued (those advisories),” he said.

Matsura said that he hopes the “security situation is being improved” so that all foreigners in the country would have less “security headaches.”

He explained that this was a general statement in the sense that every government faces some kind of security concern.

Asked if he felt safe in the country, Matsura was quick to reply that “personally, I feel safe.”

According to Matsura, there were around 360,000 Japanese tourists who visited the country last year and that a few years back, the number even reached 400,000.

No link

Meantime, United States Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. admitted his misgivings over the persistent linking of the US embassy’s recent issuance of a travel advisory on the Philippines to the brewing issues on the US-Phl Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

Thomas, in an interview with reporters at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig yesterday at the sidelines of ceremonies to celebrate Veterans Day, said he took offense at the people who persist in linking the two issues.

“I take umbrage to those who say that,” Thomas said.

Invoking the sanctity of where he stood while making the statement, Thomas said that the US government will not link the issuance of travel advisories to American nationals with the VFA.

“There’s no way that we have ever sullied the people, the men and women buried here by linking the Visiting Forces Agreement to the safety and security of Americans,” Thomas said.

“There’s no way that the VFA will ever be linked to our terrorist warnings,” Thomas said.

Thomas said that the US started issuing the travel advisories in March 2005, with the advisory being reviewed every six months.

Thomas pointed out that the travel advisory issued last Nov. 5 merely urged Americans traveling to areas in the south, especially Mindanao, to take caution.

No terror reports

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, for his part, yesterday denied that his agency received terror reports from foreign embassies as early as Nov. 1 and stressed that the advisories they issued were baseless and unverified.

In an interview with radio dzMM, Gazmin said they only learned about the terror advisories issued by foreign governments through newspaper reports.

“Unfortunately, we did not receive the advisories last Nov. 1... They only gave us copies of their advisories after these have created a stir,” the defense chief said.

“These advisories have been written about in the newspapers but before that, we really did not know anything,” he added. – With Rainier Allan Ronda, Alexis Romero