New risk level ?

[Land Fish]

Hmm...going to Malapascua in May. Will this be an issue? Should I just suck it up, eat the cost and cancel the trip?

Malapascua is quite further up north from Jolo, Mindanao or Bohol, and ASG is not known to go that far (at least for now).

Still, I don't think anyone here is in a position to advise one way or another. Perhaps do more research and keep an eye on update/advice from various governments?

 

[peeweediver]

Not the forum to debate Chicago violence between gangs versus terrorist planned targeting of tourists. The concern is that many from the Philippines went to Syria to fight with ISIS and are now back in the Philippines hoping to advance the capabilities Abu Sayyaf, which has now pledged allegiance to ISIS. There are many informative articles about what is happening now and my concern is the military's capacity to confront the changing landscape. Random street violence is upsetting and dangerous, but quite different from planned attacks against tourists. All that said, my hope is that it is just "a couple of terrorists running around" as opposed to something must more coordinated and long-lasting.

 

[SpeckledGrouper]

We are leaving for the Philippines on May 17. Manila for 5 days, Puerto Galera for a week and Cebu for a week. We plan to dive in Cebu, Oslob and Moalboal.
We are not changing our plans.

 

[Maverick17]

I spoke with colleagues and their contacts who are in security business in Philippines.

If you have contacts in security, that's much better than my statement above, I'm just a civilian and not in the Phils right now.

Honest postings of current activities would be very helpful. Trusting military or government proclamations doesn't make much sense.Thanks to those who have posted "just the facts". That's all we can ask for.

I think it's a little hard to just ask for "the facts" because that's very reactionary, and this thread asked about risk level, trying to be proactive a bit. But if we understand and phrase it that you would like people who visit resorts to mention if they have additional security etc, that might work well. I also think you have to trust the military or gov't to some degree, because they have the most information and they have been fighting the AS for a long long time. But just be aware of their biases.

 

[peeweediver]

Maverisk, totally agree. The report we're headed to next year had their manager attend a meeting in Cebu City last week with many other resort managers from Cebu and Bohol and the police and military. I took this as a very good sign that all are taking this seriously and sharing strategies. So, in the spirit of your post, as 2017 goes forward, as SB members visit the Philippines, any please post any additional security measures you learn of. As I indicated, our plan is to not change our plans.

 

[CarcharodonCarcharias]

Malapascua is quite further up north from Jolo, Mindanao or Bohol, and ASG is not known to go that far (at least for now).

Still, I don't think anyone here is in a position to advise one way or another. Perhaps do more research and keep an eye on update/advice from various governments?

Yeah, just want to see if there is any new updates and the latest on this episode. Let's see how it goes.

 

[Hoag]

Before you travel abroad from Canada or the US, here are a couple good websites to check:
Government of Canada: Travel Advice and Advisories and
US Department of State: Alerts and Warnings

I'm not sure what the applicable website for other countries would be, but this is a good place to start to see if travel to a specific location is a good idea.

Note that nothing is perfect, and this certainly does not guarantee your safety. It simply is one step in making an informed decision.

 

[MCK7]

The Dutch government has also updated (15/4/2017) the risk areas in the Philippines. I am cautious but do not want to be too afraid, as said before, the world is full of risk areas nowadays. Local news is often the best.
Now I wonder if anybody has some ideas about live aboard tubbataha reef ? It is between the southern 'high risk' areas. We fly to Cebu in 3 weeks and not yet a confirmed hotel booking or live aboard (all reserved but can be cancelled). We have still the option of going to Coron (north Palawan), Malapascua, or Tabbataha reef.

 

[kevin.]

I just returned from three weeks in Philippines. We visited Moalboal, Puerto Princessa, El Nido and Puerto Galera.

During this time the local news media did have lots of coverage on the daily threats and activities going on mostly in Bohol and then as we were leaving seems the topic of Palawan and PP and El Nido were getting attention.
The issue in Bohol from news perspective was significant but was mostly a clash between Military and Terrorist group. It did impact some locals that were evacuated, they were concerned that the Terrorist group was going to use the locals as shields or hideouts.

I did not encounter any activity that concerned me, lots of tourists in all locations.

One thing i did notice, although i do not know if this was in reaction to heightened security or just changes since my last trip in 2015.
While in Manila security seemed increased. Lots of drug or bomb sniffing dogs. We were checked on a couple occasions around Hotels. The security actually seemed pretty decent in Manila.

There

 

[CarcharodonCarcharias]

Just got back from Malapascua. Things are business as usual. It was Fiesta time last weekend. The basketball court next to the church turned into a disco and the island night market were raging until the wee hours in the morning just prior to the shark dive. But there were military personnel walking around with automatic rifles.