President Benigno Aquino III said the Western nations issued the travel warnings last week without consulting his government. The warnings came less than two weeks before the launch of a new government tourism campaign, Aquino told a business conference on the sidelines of an annual Pacific Rim economic summit in the Japanese port city of Yokohama.
The US, Britain, Australia, France, Canada and New Zealand issued similar alerts last week that expanded previous travel warnings for the volatile southern Philippines, where rebels and Al-Qaeda militants are active, to include Manila, the capital.
Australia, citing unspecified but what it described as reliable reports, said an attack in Manila may be imminent.
“Coming on top of the fact that we will be launching our new tourism logo on Nov. 15, one has to suspect the sincerity of some of our allies,” Aquino said in response to a question from the audience.
“We have made our displeasure known to their ambassadors,” Aquino said, adding a new procedure has been put in place to allow more coordination between his government and any country that plans to issue such terror warnings.
The Philippine government was kept in the dark about the alleged threat, except for an official from one country who sent a text message to a Filipino security officer about the impending warnings, he said.
Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin has said the military and police have not uncovered any specific threat. Still, government forces in Manila have been put on the highest state of readiness.
Security has been stepped up at malls and airports, where police increased their visibility with bomb-sniffing dogs and baggage inspections.
A Philippine official told the Associated Press on Wednesday the warnings may have come from a confidential terrorist threat assessment by Western security officials indicating extremists may attack a popular Manila mall, a trade center and political figures, including two Manila-based Asian diplomats.
Aquino said the information may not have been verified.
