Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla, in an article posted on Business Mirror on June 20, admitted that tourists avoid the Philippines because they "don’t feel safe." It’s disturbing. Instead of calming fears, he poured gasoline on the fire.

Remulla’s statement was a slip and a full-blown faceplant. Would anyone still eat in a restaurant if a manager told customers that the food served gives them food poisoning? Of course not.

Tourism runs on dreams and vision, not doubts. Investors bet on confidence, not fear. The man in charge of national safety messed with the warnings instead of fighting them.

The worst part? His words sound like they came straight from the mouths of the Philippines’ biggest haters—the kind who love painting the country as some wild, lawless jungle. Sure, problems exist. But leaders are supposed to fix them, not wave a white flag.

He was quoted as saying: “I have to admit it is our fault. It is the government’s fault. It is the Interior Secretary’s fault. 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, and killing seems an ordinary activity [so] people become afraid.”

He basically shrugged and said that it is dangerous. It wasn't honesty as he may have intended it to be, but it was simply surrender.

Tourism feeds millions of Filipino families. Investors bring jobs, roads, and progress. When a top official says that this place isn’t safe, it doesn’t just scare away tourists—it kills paychecks and futures.

Worse? Enemies of progress are now using his words as proof. The government should be slapping down false alarms, not sounding them.

Politicians forget that their words aren’t just talk—they’re policy. One wrong sentence can wreck years of hard work.

Remulla needs to clean this up fast—not with weak excuses but with action. He should show the world real security improvements, not lip service. He should prove that the Philippines is open, safe, and ready.

Our country doesn’t need leaders who whisper that they are scared, too. It needs fighters who roar with action against kidnappings, murders, robberies, illegal drugs, etc.

Right now, the Philippines isn’t just fighting crimes—it is fighting perception. And Remulla just handed the enemies a free bullet.

Mandy Esteban

Makati City