MANILA – The Department of Tourism (DOT) has proposed the establishment of 24/7 tourist courts, to aid in the swift resolution of cases where tourists are involved.
In a release from the DOT, Tourism Chief Christina Garcia Frasco proposed the matter during the recent sectoral meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr, in Malacañang.
In the said meeting, the President agreed that the Philippine National Police (PNP), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), will work along side the DOT, to investigate and prosecute crimes related to tourists.
“We are now working with the DOJ, and we will be collaborating with the judiciary department for the establishment of a 24-hour tourist court for the resolution of crimes related to our tourists,” the Secretary said during a briefing for the proposed budget of the DOT for the 2025 fiscal year held at the House of Representatives in Quezon City on Tuesday.
The DOT is also beefing up police forces across strategic locations of the country, particularly in areas with a high concentration of tourists.
According to data from the Tourism Department, there are over 8,000 police personnel under the DOT’s Tourist Oriented Police for Community Order and Protection (TOPCOP) Program that have already been trained, in collaboration with the DILG and PNP.
The DOT has also trained 270 barangay tanod and barangay intelligence network as police multipliers.
“Being a [former] mayor nga po, alam natin na hindi naman enough yung number of police to the actual population, kaya naman po inexpand natin yung program na ito na isasali na natin sa training yung barangay tanod and barangay intelligence network multipliers in various areas in the country. And we are expanding this to various LGUs,” Frasco stated.
The tourism chief also emphasized that the DOT is working with the Department of National Defense (DND) to “strengthen the strategic development of tourism, especially in key areas of the country.”
“Overall, the effort is to build confidence in tourism for the Philippines,” Frasco said.
Data showed that as of August 19, 2024, the Philippines has registered a total of 3,860,730 international visitors who came into the country, of which 92.05 percent or 3,553,720 are foreigners, while the remaining 7.95 percent or 307,010 are overseas Filipinos.
The top 10 source markets are South Korea, the United States of America, Japan, China, Australia, Taiwan, Canada, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Malaysia, the DOT stated.
