In an attempt to gain more trust with international tourists, the Philippines are planning to install dedicated 24/7 tourist courts. Moreover, police forces will be increased areas with a dense population of travellers.
Having welcomed 3,860,730 international visitors between 1 January and 19 August 2024, the Philippines are a popular destination amongst tourists. Visitors mainly arrive from South Korea, the United States, Japan, China, Australia, Taiwan, Canada, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Malaysia, which are the 10 most important source markets.
However, with so many tourists, crimes involving international visitors aren’t an exception. The Philippines Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco has now proposed the introduction of special 24/7 tourist courts which will aid to solve those more efficiently. In a meeting with President Ferdinand R Marcos Jr, in Malacañang, she brought up the matter with the state leader, who agreed the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) should help the Department of Tourism with the matter.
“We are now working with the DOJ, and we will be collaborating with the judiciary department for the establishment of a 24-hour tourist court to resolve crimes related to our tourists”, Frasco said during a meeting for the proposed budget of the DOT for 2025 at the House of Representatives in Quezon City, according to TTR Weekly.
The 24/7 tourist courts won’t be the only way of making sure tourists get the justice they deserve while vacationing in the Philippines. The Department of Tourism is also doing what they can to ensure the presence of extra police forces in areas of the country that welcome the most visitors, with 8,000 police officers having already received a special training from the Department’s Tourist-Oriented Police for Community Order and Protection.
Crimes against tourists in the Philippines are a regularly reoccurring issue. Only last June, four police officers were arrested after kidnapping four foreign tourists. “I was shocked that policemen were the ones involved,” Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos said in a news conference at the time. “This incident is a serious breach of public trust and core values of the police force.”
Even though two of them managed to escape and alert the authorities, the remaining two were only released after the kidnappers received a ransom of 2.5-million-peso (€38,600). Eventually, the four policemen were tracked down thanks to information from the kidnapped tourists and camera footage.
