The Philippines was classified as medium risk for travelers in the 2023 Global Risk Assessment Map of the Global Guardian, a firm specializing in travel risk.
Such countries are “often ill-equipped to manage crises,” and in the Southeast Asian region, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Indonesia also received the same classification.
According to the report, “political instability and inadequate law enforcement make these countries vulnerable to criminality and sporadic unrest.”
In comparison, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and Vietnam were classified under moderate risk as these countries were considered as resilient and “capable of quickly and effectively managing most crises and threats to personal security.”
Myanmar was categorized by the report as high risk due to regular conflict, criminal activity, or civil unrest.
The map covered key geopolitical conflict regions and uses crime, health, natural calamities, infrastructure issues, political stability, civil unrest and terrorism as among its indicators.
The war in Ukraine has highlighted that hard power and geopolitics are now back to a place in prominence in global affairs. The risk assessment map provides business leaders and boardrooms the information that can protect their employees and insulate their firms from the varying security and economic impacts that current and future conflicts may produce.
Considering the company our country keeps in the medium risk category, the situation doesn’t seem so bad. However, it does point to the need for improvement as although we may not be as vulnerable to a shooting war such as the one Russia started in Ukraine, Global Guardian sees the Philippines as vulnerable to criminality and sporadic unrest and at the same time believe the state is still ill-equipped to manage crises. Identifying where and how these risks to travelers and businesses can be minimized will need to be a priority of government as it will contribute to the goal of economic recovery and progress.*
