Local tourism industry leaders have expressed concerns over the statement of Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla on the relationship between low foreign tourist arrivals and the peace and order situation in the country.

Instead of defending what they described as misleading survey results of the “HelloSafe Safety Index 2025”, local tourism industry leaders said Remulla’s statement appeared to concede the premise of the survey and eventually undermined the efforts of the Department of Tourism.

They are referring to the part of Remulla's speech of Remulla during the 3rd Hotel Sales and Marketing Association’s (HSMA) Sales and Marketing Summit: People do not want to come to the country because they don’t feel safe. They are afraid. There is cynicism in all the bad news that goes on here, and in the political atmosphere.”

In the same summit, Remulla, however, vowed to address the country’s safety concerns by strengthening its law enforcement institutions to support the growth of the tourism sector among them is the revitalization of the unified 911 Emergency System and the plan to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras across the country.

It was DOT Secretary Cristina Garcia-Frasco who took the lead in calling out and lambasting HelloSafe, an insurance company, for incorrectly branding the Philippines as the “least safe” country.

Frasco also demanded accountability from HelloSafe for presenting questionable data in the guise of an objective safety index stressing that the index is “entirely disconnected from realities on the ground.”

Frasco’s pushback was supported by tourism industry leaders.

Philippine Hotel Owners Association (PHOA) president Arthur Lopez warned that such rankings—and worse, official admissions that appear to support them—could undo years of hard work in rebuilding tourism post-pandemic.

“The HelloSafe report is misleading, unfair, and detrimental to the efforts of the tourism and hospitality industry. We fully support Secretary Frasco’s call to set the record straight,” Lopez said.

Maria Paz Alberto, president of the Philippine IATA Agents Travel Association (PIATA) and Philippine chapter chair of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), said misleading narratives such as the HelloSafe index can “deter prospective visitors and cause lasting repercussions to businesses reliant on inbound tourism.”

For his part, Philippine Tour Operators Association (PHILTOA) President Arjun Shroff said that responsible messaging is critical and false narratives must be corrected swiftly.

“It is vital that the government projects confidence in local tourism capabilities,” he said.

Tourism officials had hoped for unified messaging from the administration to reinforce safety reforms, improved police response times, and the deployment of tourist police.