Poll: Dumaguete is safest Philippines City

MANILA, Philippines — Ten cities across the Philippines have been recognized among the safest destinations for travelers, based on the midyear 2025 travel safety rankings released by the World Travel Index (WTI).

Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental emerged as the safest city in the country with a score of 81.36. It was followed by Davao City (80.73), Bulacan (76.42), Balanga in Bataan (76.15) and Lucena City in Quezon (75.24).

Also included in the top 10 were Naga City, Camarines Sur (75.02), Baguio City (73.99), Puerto Princesa, Palawan (71.46), Legazpi City, Albay (71.34) and Makati City (70.41).

WTI’s safety index draws from a wide range of indicators including crime rates, day and night safety, public service responsiveness and incidence of theft and drug-related cases.

It also factors in traveler feedback and AI-assisted analysis of over 50 million entries from travel platforms, including user-generated content from Reddit and Quora.

Globally, Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates ranked first with a score of 88.4, followed by Doha in Qatar (84.1), Dubai in the UAE (83.8) and Taipei in Taiwan (83.8), according to WTI via its database Numbeo.

Dumaguete, the Philippines’ safest city for this year, placed 1,097th globally. Manila, on the other hand, ranked the lowest among 323 cities in the country, with a safety score of only 36.16, placing 2,909th overall.

While the rankings offer useful insight, WTI cautioned that their safety index does not account for ongoing conflicts or geopolitical issues.

Travelers are urged to observe official travel advisories and follow local safety protocols.