US renews travel warning to PHL amid kidnapping, terror threats

The United States government has renewed its travel warning to the Philippines, citing continuing terrorist threats, kidnapping of foreigners and insurgent activities particularly in Mindanao.

US citizens were told to avoid “all non-essential travel to the Sulu Archipelago and through the southern Sulu Sea, and to exercise extreme caution when traveling to the island of Mindanao, due to continued terrorist threats, insurgent activities and kidnappings,” the April 21 travel notice by the State Department said.

Americans, it added, should defer non-essential travel to the southern Sulu Sea region from the southern tip of Palawan, along the coast of Sabah and the islands of the Sulu up to Zamboanga City.

The last travel warning issued by Washington was on October 21, 2015 and its latest advisory reflects continuing concern on the security situation in Mindanao.

Travel warnings, according to the State Department, are issued when “long-term, protracted conditions make a country dangerous or unstable,” which leads them to recommend that “Americans avoid or consider the risk of travel to that country.”

Lower levels of US travel advisories come in the form of “Notices to American Citizens” and “Warden Messages.”

“Terrorist and insurgent groups based in the Sulu Archipelago continue to target foreigners for kidnapping in the Eastern Sabah province of Malaysia and in the southern Sulu Sea area,” it said.

Since January 2015, at least 15 separate kidnapping incidents have been reported across Mindanao. In Western Mindanao, terrorist, insurgent, and criminal gangs regularly conduct kidnappings for ransom, including the kidnapping of a foreigner in Dipolog City in early October 2015 by unknown assailants, the US said.

In Central Mindanao, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) remains active in Maguindanao, North Cotabato, and Sultan Kudarat provinces, where the government maintains a state of emergency and a greater police presence, it noted.

While there have been no recent reported terrorist threats or incidents within the Davao City or Surigao City limits, eastern Mindanao is not free from threats, the warning said.

It was in September 2015 when members of the Abu Sayyaf Group, which is listed by the US and Philippines as a terrorist organization, kidnapped a Filipino woman, two Canadians and one Norwegian from the popular resort island of Samal, a 15-minute boat ride from Davao City.

The militants threatened to behead the foreign hostages on April 25 if the $19.5-million ransom is not paid in exchange for their release.

Although there have been no reports of US citizens in Mindanao targeted specifically for their nationality, it said the “general threats to US citizens and other foreigners throughout Mindanao remain a concern.”

“US citizens should continue to exercise extreme caution if traveling to certain regions and cities of the island of Mindanao,” the warning said as separatist and terrorist groups “continue to carry out attacks and kidnappings against civilians, foreigners, political leaders, and Philippine security forces in Mindanao.”

While US government officials in the Philippines travel to Mindanao for official business without incident, the embassy has imposed strict restrictions on all but the most essential travel to the area.

Embassy employees, it said, must receive special authorization from its security officials to travel to any location in Mindanao or Sulu.

Around 400,000 American citizens are living and working in the Philippines. Washington has long expressed concern about the presence of terrorist groups in the Philippines specifically the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf Group and the Jemaah Islamiyah in Mindanao.

It has warned its citizens in the past from traveling to the country and other parts of Mindanao and to avoid public areas like ship and bus terminals, places of worships and shopping malls, wherein some of it were bombed and targeted by attacks. — BAP, GMA News