Palace elated by new US travel advisory

Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte

MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang welcomes the most recent US travel advisory on the Philippines because it no longer contains warnings against travel to the country’s major urban centers such as Manila, Davao City and Cagayan De Oro City.

“This is the normal travel advisory that the US embassy issues… The last one was in January,” said Abigail Valte, a spokesperson for President Aquino over the state-run radio dzRB.

“If you compare [the one in January and the most recent one in June], the travel advisory has been downgraded because there’s no more warning about Cagayan de Oro, Davao and Manila,” she added.

Valte said the travel warning is now confined to several places in Mindanao “primarily because of the state of emergency that was imposed.”

“It’s good that it has been downgraded because we always maintain that [Metro Manila] is safe, our urban centers are safe for our tourists,” she added.