A HOUSE leader has questioned the US State Department’s “Do Not Travel” advisory for the Philippines, stressing it will hurt the tourism recovery.

Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, chairman of the House committee on ways and means and co-chair of the House economic stimulus recovery cluster, recommended that Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. seeks a formal explanation from the US Embassy on the State Department’s “Do Not Travel” recommendation to US citizens bound for the Philippines.

The advisory was released due to “a very high level of COVID-19 in the country” and “due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, and kidnapping.”

Salceda wrote Locsin to “recommend that your office summon the US Ambassador, or at the very least request a formal and official explanation.”

He cited three reasons for seeking an explanation on the advisory.

“In terms of COVID-19 risks, the Philippines is statistically safer than the United States. I note that there are six times more deaths per million in the United States due to COVID-19 than there are in the Philippines (2,633.47 versus 495.01 throughout the pandemic), and over the past week, there have been only 4.73 deaths per million in the Philippines due to COVID-19, versus 40.63 deaths per million in the US over the same period,” Salceda wrote.

“In other words, one is significantly more likely to die in the US due to COVID-19 than one is in the Philippines. In fact, more Filipino healthcare workers died in the United States due to COVID-19, than in the Philippines,” Salceda added.

Salceda also took issue with the security angle of the advisory.

“The security concerns cited appear inconsistent with the renewed presence of American forces in the country. The security concerns noted, especially terrorism, are mutual concerns of the Philippines and the United States, due to our Mutual Defense Treaty, and especially as we recently renewed our Visiting Forces Agreement with the US,” Salceda wrote Locsin.

“The main rationale for the VFA is to make the Philippines safer and more secure. Throwing the security situation of the Philippines into question also undermines the supposed security benefits of the VFA,” Salceda added.

Salceda also cited the potential effects on tourism.

“The adverse impact of the travel advisory on our tourist and balikbayan arrivals could be significant. The United States is the third largest source of foreign tourists to the Philippines. There are also more Overseas Filipino Workers in the United States than in any other country in the world. The travel advisory will almost certainly have an undeserved dampening or even chilling effect on tourism recovery – achieving the impact of an economic sanction without the geopolitical consequences of declaring one,” Salceda said.

“This is a serious concern for my cluster, the House Economic and Stimulus Recovery Cluster, which I co-chair.”

Salceda also said that the US should reciprocate the Philippines’ more relaxed COVID-19 travel restrictions.

“The Philippine Government’s decision to relax foreign entry restrictions even to countries like the United States was a demonstration of goodwill on our part – a gesture that deserves at least a fair and commensurate response from our supposed friends and allies,” Salceda added.

In subsequent remarks, Salceda also said that he hopes the US will be fairer with its threat assessments, considering that the Philippines is also opening its trade and investment environment up to US nationals.