THE government’s anti-criminality campaign Operation Plan Lambat-Sibat is failing and legislators are joining the mounting call of ordinary Filipinos for the National Police to do more in fighting crimes.
While the National Police has been trumpeting that it was managing to lower crime rates through Oplan Lambat-Sibat, which was crafted by former Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II, legislators, including National Unity Party Rep. Benhur Salimbangon of Cebu and Party-List Rep. Lito Atienza of Buhay, believe otherwise.
Atienza noted that the “crime wave” has not even spared the country’s tourist destinations, not only impeding the country’s efforts to lure more tourists, but could even result in the decline of tourist arrivals.
Atienza reiterated his call for the government to address “more effectively the deteriorating peace and order condition in the country, especially in the various tourist destinations.”
The House of Representatives was thrown into the issue of surging crimes and degrading peace and order situation after Salimbangon raised the case of four female Chinese who were robbed on the highway in Cebu on their way to the famed tourist spot Malapascua.
Salimbangon raised the possible effects of the crime, which happened in broad daylight, into the tourism industry.
“Palawan, Boracay and Malapascua have been ranked No. 1 in the quality of their beaches and the hospitality of our people. Pero nakalulungkot na kulelat tayo sa bilang ng mga bisita,” Atienza said in his interpellation of Salimbangon.
“Incidents like the robbery of four female Chinese nationals on a national highway in Cebu to visit Malapascua Island reverberates around the world, discouraging tourists from visiting our country. Who in his right mind would like to come to a place where he is not safe?” Atienza added.
He lamented the fact that the country has failed to reach its target of 10 million tourists, which he also pointed out to Tourism Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez Jr. during the budget hearings of the Committee of Appropriations.
He criticized Jimenez for denying that there was a peace and order problem in the country, while putting the blame again on alleged problems they inherited from the previous administration.
“Our country is overflowing with beautiful beaches and wondrous destinations to visit, and yet the country was recently ranked No. 6 among Asean nations in terms of tourist arrivals, posting a mere 4.8 million. Malaysia topped the list with 27 million, Thailand 24 million, Singapore 15 million, Indonesia 9.4 million and Vietnam with 7.8 million. Cambodia, which ranked No. 7 had 4.5 million,” Atienza said.
“We cannot seem to convince tourists to come. It is high time that the DOT [Department of Tourism] face the fact that deteriorating peace and order and the horrible traffic conditions in Metro Manila have been adversely affecting tourist arrivals for the past five years. These are what they should be addressing, instead of using the previous administration as a convenient alibi for failure,” he added.
Crime incidents around the country rose by as much as 46.8 percent during the first half of this year compared to the same period last year, despite the implementation of the Lambat-Sibat, which the National Police said was responsible behind the crime “downtrend.”
Statistics gathered by the National Police Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management showed that crime incidence was pegged at 885,445 from January to June 2015 compared with 603,085 during the same period in 2014.