Police ordered to put a stop to petty crimes in Boracay

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The government ordered Saturday the police leadership to give special attention to the security in the famous Boracay Island in Aklan to stop petty crimes, such as theft, where many foreign tourists have already been victimized.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said in an interview over a state-run radio that it is not good for the country's image to have such crimes no matter how petty they were.

"We will ask the PNP (Philippine National Police) to pay special attention because, of course, we don't want to have these kinds of incidents, especially in a place that is often visited by our tourist friends," she said.

There were reports that foreign tourists fell victims to theft almost every day, with a recent major case involving Japanese, Chinese, and Belgian nationals.