FOREIGN VLOGGERS ASK: IS THE PHILIPPINES SAFE TO VISIT?

I came across a vlog called "Divert Living" run by a young American traveler and his Thai girlfriend. They have nothing but good words about the Philippines and find the locals extremely friendly and very welcoming. They added that they've never experienced anything of serious safety concerns during their  stay in the country, contrary to what the media says depicting the country as a dangerous place for tourists. They have in fact visited some depressed areas in Metro Manila, mingled with the locals and couldn't hint any danger during their short stay in the capital city. Another vloggers  (Trina and Pierre) says almost the same thing about safety in the Philippines.

But of course this is just one side of the coin. Surely, there have been  reported incidents of kidnapping, drug war related killings in connection with the government's crackdown on illegal drugs, but to straightened the facts out, these are isolated cases and kidnappings happened mostly in the South where the bandits and ISIS inspired extremists are creeping.  The bottom line is, don't go to these places.  The Northern part of Mindanao is safe to visit and the rest of the areas in the country are generally peaceful.  Everything is just overly exaggerated. 

Foreign tourists often says the Philippines has a lot to offer and has all what it takes to be a major tourist destination citing its countless beautiful pristine beaches, breathtaking landscape and diverse culture, but the negative image of the country is certainly taking its toll and hampers the growth of the country's tourism industry.  Recent statistics shows the Philippines is way behind its neighbors in terms of tourist arrivals.  Thailand has exceeded 30 million visitors last year while Malaysia had 28 million compared to the the Philippines with just over 5 million visitors.  While it's true that Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam have the edge being strategically and geographically convenient for travelers to cross-country, still the wide margin of tourist arrivals behind its rivals is a serious concern and an uphill climb to match.  Bear in mind Indonesia is also an archipelago like the Philippines but tourist arrivals is about 3 or 4 times bigger than the Philippines.  What the country needs is strengthen its campaign in rebuilding the country's image as a major tourist destination.  

Recently the government launched its program called "Build, Build" envisaged to boost infrastructure projects nationwide.  The government also ordered the closure of the world famous resort island of Boracay citing its poor maintenance and environmental issues.  The island will undergo a period of 6 months rehabilitation but can be cut short when ready to coincide with the 2018 Miss Universe pageant which might be held in the Philippines.The positive thing about the current government is that they listen and take the initiatives and the people are getting used with President Duterte's own ways of addressing the Filipino people joking around, cussing and swearing "p_ _ _ _ _a" m_ fcuker whatever.   Well...it's still too early to tell and we'll see how the government beat the odds in the next few years. 

So is the Philippines safe to visit?  Just listen to these two couples and find out what they have to say about their journey in the Philippines. 

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Vlog Credits:  Divert Living and Trina and Pierre :)