PHL baffled by new HK black travel advisory

The Philippine government is baffled by the new black travel advisory issued by Hong Kong on the country due to supposed threats of terrorist attacks. "We don’t know where that was coming from," said presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda at a press briefing on Tuesday. He noted that Hong Kong’s warning came at the time when some countries that previously issued travel advisories on the Philippines have already downgraded theirs. "So we have no knowledge on what basis did the Hong Kong issue that black travel alert," Lacierda said. Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, first issued a black travel advisory on the Philippines last August following the deaths of eight Hong Kong tourists in a bloody hostage-taking incident in Manila. Lacierda acknowledged that the Philippines may have to further improve its relations with China and Hong Kong following the hostage tragedy. Repair relations "Certainly, we are trying to repair relations between China and the Philippines. We do not want to have another irritant coming along the way of Philippine-China relations," he said. "We need to assure the Hong Kong people since the Hong Kong residents were affected by the hostage-taking incident. We need to further improve our relations with the Hong Kong special administrative region," he added. Lacierda said the Philippine government has already made institutional changes after the hostage tragedy such as activating tourist police and the government’s crisis manual, and setting up the Presidential Situation Room where the president and security officials can monitor and discuss security issues. In its recent advisory, the Hong Kong government noted that “some overseas administrations had noted the heightened risk on possible terrorist attacks in Manila, including places frequented by foreigners, such as large shopping malls and convention centres." The advisory contained links to the advisories issued in November by the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Australia, New Zealand, and China. France and the United States have since updated their advisories. No reason Hong Kong issued the black travel advisory even though the Philippine government chose not to attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway — where Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was honored — supposedly to prevent further strains on Philippine-China relations. Lacierda said there is “no reason" for Hong Kong to issue the black travel alert. “Metro Manila is fine. Peace and order situation is fine so there’s no reason for them to issue that black travel alert," he said. Lacierda said he will also confer with Health Secretary Enrique Ona regarding another travel advisory, this time from the United Kingdom, which warned not just of possible terror attacks in the country but also of rabies. “We have to confirm with Dr. Ona why rabies incidents were put as a warning by the British embassy," he said. In its travel advisory, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said, “there is a risk of rabies throughout the Philippines. Deaths from rabies have been reported in 2010. If bitten or scratched by an animal you should seek medical attention without delay." It also warned of “indiscriminate" terror attacks in the country. The Philippine government had earlier downplayed warnings of possible terror threats in the country, saying there was no adequate basis for such. — KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV