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MANILA, Philippines ? The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government has issued what it calls an "outbound travel alert" or OTA, advising its residents to exercise caution when traveling to the Philippines.
In the amber-colored OTA, the Security Bureau of the HKSAR government also asked its residents to "monitor the latest situation" here before firming up their travel plans.
The agency referred to "signs of threat" to foreign visitors here, apparently referring to back-to-back natural calamities that hit the country recently. It did not provide details.
Similar OTAs were also issued to airline passengers bound for Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand and Turkey.
Indonesia was hit recently by a killer earthquake while Pakistan dealt with terrorist attacks.
Depending on the need, the Security Bureau also issues two other types of OTA ? black for "severe threat," advising its residents to avoid all travel to a particular destination, and red for "significant threat," asking residents to adjust their travel plans and avoid non-essential travel to a certain country.
The OTA system aims to "help people better understand the risk or threat to personal safety in traveling to 60 countries [including the Philippines] that are the more popular travel destinations for Hong Kong residents."
"When there are signs of threat in a place that may affect the personal safety of Hong Kong residents, the Security Bureau will assess and consider the need to issue an OTA, taking into account factors, such as the nature, level and duration of the threat," according to the Security Bureau.
According to the agency, Hong Kong residents are ?encouraged to make reference to the OTA [if any] before traveling abroad.?
"It is, however, a personal decision whether a Hong Kong resident chooses to continue the journey and travel abroad," the agency also said.
