A senior administration lawmaker on Thursday, Feb. 3 urged the Department of Foreign Affairs to seek a formal explanation from the US Embassy regarding the “Do Not Travel” advisory that the State Department issued to American citizens planning to visit the Philippines.

In a letter addressed to Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda said he wrote “to recommend that your office summon the US Ambassador, or at the very least request a formal and official explanation.”

Salceda, chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, was referring to the US State Department advisory that noted “ a very high level of COVID-19 in the country” and warned against “crime, terrorism, civil unrest and kidnaping” in the Philippines.

Salceda, who also serves as co-chairman of the House Economic Stimulus and Recovery Cluster”, expressed alarm on the potential effects to local tourism of the warning.

“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 his letter.

“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 pointed out as he cited reasons why the US Embassy must explain the State Department’s advisory.

Reacting to the security concerns cited by the State Department, Salceda noted that this appears to be “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.

The Bicolano lawmaker lamented that the advisory will hurt local tourism which has been heavily affected by the economic effects and citizens’ safety concerns about the COVID 19 pandemic.

“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,” Salceda stated.