US ambassador: Advisory not meant to stop Americans from visiting PHL

United States (US) Ambassador Harry Thomas clarified on Monday that the US travel advisory to the Philippines, which warned of an imminent terrorist attack, was not intended to prohibit American travelers from coming to the country. In a television interview, Thomas said he does not feel any threat to his personal security and that he feels “safe" being in the Philippines. Thomas said the advisory has been in place for seven years and is updated every six months. “We’ve had it for seven years. We update it every six months. It never said don’t come to the Philippines," Thomas said. Thomas explained that US authorities “have to be serious about the safety and security" of American travelers. Last week, six countries — the U.S., along with the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and France — have all warned of looming terror attacks in Metro Manila and in other parts of the country. The governments of the six countries said public areas often visited by foreigners in the country, such as shopping malls and airports, were potential terrorist targets. After the spate of damaging advisories, the Philippine government sent diplomatic notes to the embassies of the six countries in Manila, asking about their basis for issuing the warnings. The Philippine government also requested the embassies to share with Philippine authorities about any information about terrorist threats so that precautionary measures can be undertaken. However, Thomas said the travel warning is merely an “update" of its previous advisory to the Philippines and that the level of threat has not changed in seven years. He explained that lower levels of US travel advisories are given out as “Notices to American Citizens" and “Warden Messages." He also noted that the US is not singling out the Philippines because a travel warning is a standard precautionary measure for American travelers. “There's terrorism going on all around the world. Look at what's happening in Yemen, the cargo ships, Athens, Berlin, none of these is direct to the Philippines. This is a global threat that we have to work together to protect all of our citizens," Thomas said. According to the US State Department, travel warnings are issued when “long-term, protracted conditions make a country dangerous or unstable." The warnings are also issued when the US government's ability to assist American citizens is constrained due to the closure of an embassy or consulate or because of a drawdown of its staff. Among the countries that meet these criteria include the Philippines, and states known to have existing armed conflict and unstable security conditions like: