DAVAO CITY – Where on earth did Canada get its information about the Mindanao peace situation?
This was the common question raised by business leaders here and the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), the government’s socioeconomic planning unit for Mindanao.
Antonio S. Peralta, chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP)-Southern Mindanao Business Council, said he “wondered where the Canadian government got the information when they issued the recent travel advisory”.
“The business of creating travel advisories should have input from the government and not be based on hearsay,” Peralta said. “These will have a direct impact on the way businesses are conducted. If the executives from other countries would try to come, they are advised by their company not to since they are not covered by their insurance provider.”
He said one sector that will feel the impact of the advisory is the tourism sector.
Peralta pointed out that another important factor to consider is the perception of Mindanao if nothing is done about correcting these advisories.
“If we don’t do anything about these, the chances of more advisories will make it more difficult for us to get out of that problem of negative perception,” he said.
The advisory released by the Government of Canada on January 10 urged tourists to avoid traveling to certain provinces in Mindanao due to the serious threat of terrorism, kidnapping, high levels of crime, and violent clashes between the security forces and rebel groups.
Image credits: Hugo Maes | Dreamstime.com