By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde on Monday slammed the United States-based research and analysis group that said the Philippines ranked fourth on the list of countries where violence against civilians is leading to rising casualty figures.
“I think that is unfounded. That cannot be covered by data. I don’t know how they were able to say that through what’s their basis of saying that. I really do not know kung ano ang basehan nila,” Albayalde told reporters during Monday’s press briefing at Camp Crame in Quezon City.
Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (Acled) said the Philippines ranked fourth on the list of countries most dangerous for civilians, largely because of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs – which it said accounted for at least three-fourths of all civilian killings it monitored.
Albayalde challenged the group behind the analysis on the basis of the report, and said it is being misled by those feeding them erroneous information on the drugs campaign.
“I challenged these people na kung sino mga nagsasalita they probably based ‘yung mga sinasabi nila base lang doon sa naninira lang din na unfortunately na kapwa rin natin Filipino ang naninira sa ating bansa, kaya nagkakaroon ng maling interpretation at paniniwala sa ating bansa (This group probably based their report only from erroneous information fed to them by fellow Filipinos whose goal is to malign the country),” he said.
“Ito ang nakakapagbigay ng maling impression sa ating bansa (this gives these people a wrong impression about our country) that’s why we challenge these people to come here and live here and see for themselves how peaceful the Philippines is,” Albayalde said.
He cited a survey conducted by the 2019 HSBC Expat’s annual survey that ranked the Philippines as the 24th best place to live and work in the world.
“This only shows that the continuing peace and order campaign of the government significantly contributed in creating a secure environment where our fellowmen and even foreign tourists feel safe to work, live, and do business in our country,” Albayalde said.
Albayalde also said from January to May of this year, a total of 3,489,270 tourists visited the Philippines, marking a 9.76 percent increase from last year’s figure.
“All these surveys and data indicate a positive outlook of our peace and order situation and an affirmation of our accomplishments in the campaign against criminality, illegal drugs, and corruption,” he said.
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