Hi Chaff agrees with you any country that give spontaneous and instinctive feeling of safety and ease is part and parcel for progress and conducive environment for tourism trade, when we decided to operating a business here majority of my business associates, relative and friends are concern and always asked the same age old question " Is it safe in Philippine ? ". In Philippine the three most popular are (in no particular order) those that deal with books, cars, and guns. Last year, I attended a show organized by the country’s Association of Firearms Dealers (AFAD) and after paying a PHP 60 fee, I gained admission to see what its the exhibition they had to offer all range of gun AK47, MP5K. Whatever the reason, Filipinos in the Philippines are fond of their guns, whether for sport or personal defense, to the consternation of many in the “politically correct” press. We can admiringly put it, the only way to truly confiscate firearms from hardy Filipinos is to rip out their very arms and the law seems to be murky on this one. In general, full-auto weapons sales are restricted to local government, police, and military organizations. There is, however, a very generous Estrada-era executive order that authorizes civilians to own any firearm of any caliber, semi auto or full, except for light machine guns, crew-served weapons, and similar small arm As your mentioned most tourism-oriented countries are gun less society which gives one a sense of safety and security. Dependable Civil service is also another factor. In Singapore if they is a crime or suspected crime in action, so who do we call ? instinctively we were call the neighborhood policeman or 999 even to such an extend that the singapore gangster were smarter and more polite than anywhere else when in a brawl the smart one were contact the policeman for help before thing get ugly. So in Philippine, when you in trouble who do your call than ? Out of curiosity I random pick 30 person that I had dealing with from Supplier,contractor,friends and customer, So if in trouble in Philippine who do we call and what is the emergency police number ? Surprising out of 30 nobody had the idea what is the police emergency number, 30 told me they would contact their family members, barranggay captain the police seems is the least they want to deal with , the reason I gathered in Tagalog "Pulis patola " it means like when they a brawl of fight the police is the last to arrive and investigate I heard they even produce a comedy show out of it.
Posted By Chaff
Progress is not an accident, but a necessity.” — Herbert Spencer The official campaign period for local officials starts this week with Good Friday and Easter Sunday to follow next weekend which means that candidates and ward leaders will be busy visiting churches looking for undecided voters, or trekking to remote barangays that they have not visited since the last election. In the meantime, the frantic exodus to the provinces starts tomorrow if it has not already started. Airline flights are fully booked, the buses are full, resort hotels are enjoying full occupancy, and the expressways are jammed with private motor vehicles. Thus, this is a good time for us who are not candidates to take a break from politics, and look at the Philippines’ tourism potentials and problems. For openers, notwithstanding the global economic and financial dislocation in 2009, tourism worldwide marches on despite oscillating fuel prices, escalating costs, natural disasters, political instability, and continuing tension in the Middle East. First, with reference specifically to the Philippines, it is not enough to highlight beautiful Filipina poster girls, postcard perfect tourist sites, and traditional fiestas and street dancing. While these promotions are enticing what differentiates one country from another, or one tourist haven or destination from another are: (1) spontaneous and instinctive feeling of safety and ease; (2) hospitality for which Filipinos are world renowned; (3) infrastructure and access to efficient communications; (4) accessibility of medical facilities; (5) huge and modern airports, and presence of many airlines and flight frequencies; (6) credible Customs, helpful police, and honest taxi drivers; and (7) consistent tourism-related policies. Second, tourism officials will instantly insist that these are all available or being worked on to provide comfort and pleasure to visitors. Moreover, no country or city has a monopoly of bad elements, swindlers, crooks, pickpockets, rude waiters, discourteous salespeople, and uncooperative government satraps. For example, the Paris metro trains are notorious for pickpockets not by Frenchmen but by gypsies and migrants from Bulgaria, Romania and neighboring Balkan countries as well as from North Africa. In Hong kong, pickpocket artists are mainly from the Philippines. On the one hand, while the Philippines is a tropical paradise waiting to be developed, the constraints are manageable but irritating and discouraging. To start with, most tourism-oriented countries are gun less society which gives one a sense of safety and security. Next, airports are grand and getting bigger. It is futile to promote Manila with only one runway, and accessing the airport and traffic is bad for the blood pressure. Outside Manila, signage are few and far apart, and roads leading to private resorts leave much to be desired which are reflective of the lack of appreciation by local officials of the importance of tourism. Finally, policies must be consistent and applied equitably, such as, sanitation, hotel rates, taxi fares, and quality standards. When all is said and done, Philippine tourism is enjoying a boomlet, and the potentials and future of the tourism industry are unstoppable. At the end of the day, the difference will be one’s sense of ease, safety, and security with good roads, frequent flights, dependable police, and honest taxi drivers, and good food. While the government is looking at the tourism big picture, the tourists and backpackers are looking at their comfort, safety, and budget. You be the judge.
For comments and views, please e-mail: chaff_fromthegrain@yahoo.com.ph
For comments and views, please e-mail: chaff_fromthegrain@yahoo.com.ph
