It’s still safe in the Philippines despite kidnap cases, foreign businessmen say

September 9, 2014 at 13:45

Posted on September 07, 2014 10:39:00 PM

By Alden M. Monzon

SEVERAL foreign business chambers remain upbeat about doing business in the Philippines despite increased cases of businessmen — mostly Chinese-Filipino — being kidnapped during the first half of this year.

“We still feel safe in the Philippines,” John D. Forbes, senior adviser of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, said in a phone interview with BusinessWorld last Friday. “Of course, there are parts of the country less safe than the others, but that’s true in all parts of the world.”

Mr. Forbes’s issued these remarks after foreign chambers held a meeting with Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Alan L. M. Purisima. The meeting discussed ongoing reforms initiated by the country’s police force to improve the business climate.

While he shares Mr. Forbes’s sentiments, European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Executive Vice-President Henry Schumacher said that reforms in the country’s justice system must be enacted to avoid delays in prosecuting offenders.

“Yes, we still feel safe but it was good to hear that the PNP is set to reduce crime rates and address kidnapping issues,” Mr. Schumacher said in a text message to BusinessWorld on Friday.

“We discussed the need for reforms of the judicial system — too many kidnapping cases are delayed in courts,” he added.

For Nobuo Fuuji, vice-president of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines, the current kidnapping trend in the country is not a cause for concern, citing their confidence in the PNP’s ability to deter crime from harming their businesses.

“We are not afraid. We are sure a good job is done by police,” Mr. Fuuji said in a phone interview.

Meanwhile, Cyril C. Rocke, president of the French Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, said that their members have not received any comments, complaints, or information about kidnapping incidents.

However, Mr. Rocke noted that it would raise serious questions about the business environment in the country if such incidents would increase.

According to the PNP, crime solution efficiency and crime clearance efficiency from January to February this year was pegged at 36.15% and 49.87% — both showing an increase of more than 10 points from last year’s figures of 26.77% and 38.45%.

During the same week, Teresita A. See, founding chairperson of the Movement for Restoration of Peace and Order (MRPO), said that 19 kidnap-for-ransom cases have already been recorded in the first six months of the year, which is already close to the full-year figure of 22 cases in 2012.

A substantial number of those abducted were Chinese-Filipino businessmen, according to Ms. See.