A Japanese tourist watches police line up for inspection in Barangay Tanawan in Oslob Town, southern Cebu. (CDN PHOTO/ TONEE DESPOJO)
Tourists continue to arrive in towns of Oslob and Santander in southern Cebu despite the US Embassy advisory warning American citizens to avoid the southern part of Cebu for the supposed presence of terrorist groups with plans to abduct foreigners.
Oslob Town Mayor Jun Tumulak said that four days after the advisory was issued, and it had not created a major blow on the tourism and the livelihood of the people of the town so far.
“It’s still too soon to tell the effect of the advisory to the town because it hasn’t been a week yet since the advisory was released. But the livelihood of the people is still normal as of yet. And there’s still a lot of tourists coming here,” Tumulak said.
Oslob’s most popular tourist attraction, whale sharks, is still drawing a strong pull of foreign tourists mostly coming from China and other Asian countries.
“We noted a decrease of tourists since July but there wasn’t any advisory then,” said Tumulak.
For French national Flor Allaine, 25, the advisory by the US Embassy did not affect her in anyway.
“I heard about the advisory but it really did not affect me. I wouldn’t have gone here if the news scared me,” she said.
The presence of soldiers and policemen in Oslob made the 28-year-old French Yohan Bouvard feel secure and protected.
“I’m not scared of any threats and we don’t mind them (terrorists) because we don’t see them. There are so many policemen in the streets and soldiers with guns, too, and it made me feel safe. I still enjoyed watching the whales very much,” Bouvard told Cebu Daily News.
In Sumilon Island, the security threat was not felt as well as the normal flow of tourists were also observed.
“To be honest, we did not feel the impact of the advisory. All of us still feel that it’s probably the safest place in the Philippines right now,” EJ Barretto, resident manager of Bluewater Sumilon said.
“To prepare for threats, we’ve coordinated with the police, the coastguards and local officials.”
For their part, Santander town Vice Mayor Wilson Wenceslao said that they have immediately deployed security personnel at the entrance of all four sea ports in the town.
“There are also police personnel in Negros Island ports. So far, we haven’t received reports on threat incidents yet since the release of the US Embassy advisory. Santander is very peaceful at the moment but we should not be complacent (in our security efforts),” Wenceslao said.
To show tourists that Cebu is safe for tourists and locals, Cebu Provincial Police Office director Senior Supt. Eric Noble led his men in a security inspection in Oslob town proper, Sumilon island and Santander yesterday from 7 a.m. until 2 p.m.
“I invite everybody to visit Cebu especially Oslob. Let us show the world that Cebu is safe,” Noble said.
Noble, together with his men, inspected the whale shark-watching site in Tan-awan, Oslob town, Bluewater Sumilon and the Santander port.
He also led the deployment of 60 tourist policemen and 14-man team composed of the elements from the Regional Public Safety Battalion (RPSB) and Armed Forces of the Philippines Central Command (AFP CENTCOM) in Oslob. These men will be scattered to rove around the town and conduct inspections.
Around the same number of operatives is also deployed in Moalboal and Malapascua towns.
“We also deployed a patrol boat off the seas of Oslob. We have been deploying this high level of security augmentation in the towns here since our President declared a state of lawless violence in the country,” Noble told reporters.
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