Japan envoy: Travel advisories misunderstood at times

MANILA, Philippines - Japan’s top diplomat in the Philippines said yesterday travel advisories are sometimes “misunderstood,” but these do not tell tourists not to come to the Philippines.

Ambassador Makoto Katsura said the Japanese embassy regularly updates and issues a travel advisory for Japanese nationals already in the Philippines and those who have just arrived in the country.

“That kind of announcement is sometimes misunderstood. Of course we make announcements to the Japanese people living here in the Philippines. But we don’t say to anybody that they should not come to the Philippines,” Katsura said in a press conference following the signing and exchange of notes for the P21.4-billion Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan extended to the Philippines for the Road Upgrading and Preservation Project (RUPP) at the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The United Kingdom updated on Thursday its travel advisory for the Philippines following an explosion in a passenger bus in Makati last Tuesday that killed five people and injured 13 others.

The overall level of the UK’s travel advice has not changed but it urged British nationals against travel to “specific areas” in the Philippines.

In November, the Philippines was the subject of travel advisories from six countries warning against travel to the country.

The Philippines urged members of the United Nations Security Council to take a “balanced” approach in the international campaign against terrorism and called on governments to “exercise due care and diligence” in issuing travel advisories.