Journalist Raissa Robles tweeted about the incoming Department of Tourism Secretary's plans to promote Mindanao as a tourist destination. This tweet set off Sara Duterte who called her tweet irresponsible and reckless.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1175901 |
Vice President-elect Sara Duterte on Saturday night lambasted the social media post of a journalist who is a known critic of the Duterte administration, saying it demonized Mindanao and insult its people.
In her Twitter post on June 2, Raissa Robles said that as incoming Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco would like to open Mindanao to tourists, she is sure “the extremist Abu Sayaf and other bandits would be pleased by the prospects of so many potential kidnap victims”.
Robles asked Frasco to “prep yourself for ransom negotiations” as the ASG (Abu Sayyaf Group) might ask for her.
In a statement, Duterte said the views expressed by Robles on Mindanao in reaction to Frasco’s plans to develop the region as a tourist destination are “replete with journalistic recklessness and irresponsibility -- something that calls for our collective condemnation as it grossly discriminated against all Mindanawons, especially those living in Moro communities”.
The VP-elect pointed out that Robles clearly wanted to undervalue everything that the Duterte administration has done in keeping peace and security in Mindanao and ensuring that concerns caused by terrorist organizations, including kidnap for ransom groups, are addressed appropriately with the help of local governments and leaders of communities.
“As a Filipino, Robles should be ashamed of herself for dangerously trying to stoke and encourage terrorist groups to target tourists in Mindanao,” Duterte added.
She said that since 2016, the kidnapping operations by the ASG in Mindanao have been significantly reduced compared to the previous years and authorities have successfully rescued all victims.
“In Basilan, as confirmed by Rep. Mujiv Hataman himself, there had been zero kidnapping incidents since President Duterte came into office. All other incidents concerning ASG have been about the arrests and surrenders of their members and leaders,” the younger Duterte added.
Sara Duterte is out of her mind. Raissa Robles did not encourage terrorists groups to target tourists. She merely pointed out the fact that tourists get kidnapped in Mindanao. Here is her tweet.
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| https://twitter.com/raissawriter/status/1532179222420398081 |
There may have been zero kidnapping incidents in Basilan since 2016 but that does not mean there have been zero kidnappings in Mindanao. In 2019 a British national and his wife were kidnapped by armed men in Zamboanga del Sur.
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| https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/05/british-national-and-his-wife-kidnapped-in-southern-philippines |
A British national and his Filipina wife have been abducted from a resort in the southern Philippines.
Armed men took the couple from a resort they own in Tukuran town, Zamboanga Del Sur, at 6.50pm on Friday.
The man is a dual national who has lived in the province, where he and his wife own and operate several businesses, since 2013.
A police spokesperson, Maj Helen Galvez, told the Guardian two of the suspects checked into the resort a day before the abduction and waited for the couple to arrive.
“They own a lot of properties and business so they are always moving. The suspects waited for the victims to arrive at the resort,” Galvez said.
More gunmen arrived and entered the resort on Friday, taking the couple to the shore, and forcing them into two motorboats. The vessels left in two directions but it was not clear if the couple were in one boat or were separated.
In 2020 a group of Indonesian fishermen were kidnapped and taken to Sulu.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1091641 |
The military’s Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) has confirmed that the five Indonesian fishermen seized on January 16 off Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia, were taken to the province of Sulu.Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, Westmincom chief, said Wednesday two of the six gunmen involved in the kidnapping, who turned out to be Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) bandits, have been killed in an airstrike off Sulare Island, Parang, Sulu.
So, let's not pretend that kidnapping has ceased under Duterte. It still happens and is a real possibility and threat. And that does not include the general lawlessness which abounds in Mindanao. On May 26th there was another bus bombing. This is why so many countries warn their citizens to not travel there.
USA
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| https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/philippines-travel-advisory.html |
UK
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| https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/philippines |
New Zealand
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| https://www.safetravel.govt.nz/philippines |
Singapore
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| https://www.mfa.gov.sg/countries-regions/p/philippines/travel-page |
Ireland
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| https://www.dfa.ie/travel/travel-advice/a-z-list-of-countries/the-philippines/ |
Canada
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| https://travel.gc.ca/destinations/philippines |
Can you see the pattern here? Foreign nations warn their citizens to avoid travel to Mindanao because it is unsafe. Will Sara Duterte go after them? Will she be calling the UK, USA, and New Zealand reckless and irresponsible. No she won't. She'd rather go after low hanging fruit like Raissa Robles. Raissa even had a follow up which was ignored.
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| https://twitter.com/raissawriter/status/1533447070404976641?cxt=HHwWgoDRlY3_8scqAAAA |
It's certainly easier to feign outrage over a tweet than it is to deal with actual facts.
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