EDITORIAL - Security risks

Tourist arrivals jumped by 9.56 percent in 2013 from the previous year, with 4.68 million visiting the Philippines. About a fourth of the visitors – a hefty 1.16 million – were from South Korea, marking a robust 13 percent increase from the previous year. In the first six months of 2014, more than half a million Koreans have visited the Philippines. Koreans are also among the biggest investors here, although their direct investments have been slowing down in recent years.

Tourist arrivals could also slow down if the Philippine government fails to address a concern raised by Korean officials recently: criminality. Since the start of the year, nine Koreans have been killed in the Philippines, with several of the attacks perpetrated by taxi drivers and their cohorts. A 21-year-old college student was killed by a group that included the driver of a taxi he had taken.

Following the kidnapping and subsequent killing of a female college student in Manila, a Seoul-based newspaper came out with a three-part report in April describing the Philippines as a “death trap for Koreans.” Of the 29 Koreans who were killed around the world last year, 12 died in the Philippines.

Earlier this week the Korean embassy released a statement expressing “deep concern” over the attacks, warning that security problems could dampen investor and tourist interest in the Philippines. So far, official response has not been encouraging.

The Philippine National Police has sought to downplay the complaint. This is not surprising in an organization where a city police chief in Metro Manila has been relieved for fudging the crime rate in his jurisdiction. PNP public information chief Theodore Sindac didn’t consider the Koreans’ problem serious enough. One report quoted him as saying, “They have nothing to be worried about – Filipinos are also victims of these crimes.”

True enough. And regardless of the victims’ nationality, Philippine law enforcers are found wanting. It’s bad for tourism, bad for investment, and bad for the country in general.