PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — The City Tourism Office (CTO) here said the travel advisories issued by the United Kingdom (UK) and Canada, and the heightened security alert against the alleged Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) kidnapping threat have not affected tourist arrivals.
City tourism chief Aileen Cynthia Amurao said Thursday “so far, there has been no cancellation” of guest bookings in any hotel in the city.
“In total, we’re doing okay. We have not received any report of cancellations from hotels or travel and tours because of the travel advisories,” she said.
At the Puerto Princesa City International Airport (PPCIA), Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines manager, engineer Percival Malonesio said the volume of guests arriving through domestic and international flights remains stable.
He said 52 to 54 flights still arrive daily with no cancellation even after the announcement of the Palawan Peace and Order Council (POC) of the alleged plot of the Abu Sayyaf to kidnap foreign nationals in the province.
“There was no effect because no flight was canceled. Our international flights are still there, and the arrivals continue to be regular,” he added.
Malonesio said that as a standard operating procedure, they heightened the level of their security initiatives at the PPCIA to preempt any incident.
“We also raised our security alert level because of the reports. We shall remain vigilant, and the areas where we do not have security personnel, we have increased our security alert. Our main gate is now very strict on vehicles coming in,” he said.
The UK and the Canadian embassies issued different travel advisories cautioning their citizens visiting Palawan after the ASG kidnapping plot was disclosed on August 11.
On Aug. 14, the POC, through lawyer Teodoro Jose Matta, announced that it has downgraded the security alert level over Palawan after “persons of interest” being monitored to be attempting to get in have been spotted in a different area of responsibility in Mindanao. (Celeste Anna Formoso/PNA)
