Thursday, December 14, 2006 Ng: Travel advisories during the Asean summit By Wilson Ng Wired Desktop
WE are still reeling from the postponement of the 12th Asean Summit here in Cebu.
We all worked hard and we were all so ready. We had over 200 computers as well as a truckload of equipment that were prepared but hardly used. But I am sure many caterers, restaurants and hotels as well as the travel agencies face bigger problems.
Apparently, there are various theories about why the summit was postponed. But all I can say with my limited knowledge is that the bad weather was the cause, and the travel advisories by the American, British and Australian embassies were also among the reasons for the postponement.
I felt it was terribly unfair for the authorities of the three countries to issue the advisories, when apparently they did not possess enough verifiable facts as basis for such notices.
At any length, understanding why advisories are issued should help us understand the situation.
Travel advisories started to be issued after a Pan Am aircraft off Lockerbie, Ireland in 1988 was blown up and all passengers were killed. The investigations later showed that there was an unconfirmed report about a terrorist attack around that time. While this information was sent to US airlines and US diplomats in Europe, they did not issue any warnings.
This later became a big issue when relatives of those who were killed contended that they would have advised their relatives not to travel had they been informed about the threat.
I guess we all know what happened after 9/11. After the World Trade bombing, fingers were pointed to all those who had some information, however vague, and did not issue any warnings, or who did not do anything about the information.
Surely, you’ve heard of certain people who had the slightest information but did not inform other people and how they were almost condemned down to their eighth generation. Thus, with all these, it is no wonder that diplomats prefer to err on the side of caution—whether they are dealing with unverified reports—and issue travel warnings, come what may.
As hosts of the summit, we did the same thing. It is hard to take risks when more than a dozen heads of state are in your city. And just like the Americans, we preferred to err on the side of caution.
But what if somebody really wants to play hero, take the risk and go ahead? If something really happens, whether it be a typhoon or Christmas virus, then the person responsible will not be able to survive the backlash—and Cebu will forever carry that scar in its history.
And yet, while nobody blames the embassies for being cautious, we, who prefer to be similarly careful, are being bombarded at all sides. Believe you me, our leaders worked harder than any of us to be able to put the summit as a feather on their cap. I am sure they had much more to lose and they had to face criticisms for the decision.
I think, instead of criticizing them, we should admire our government officials for their grace under pressure and for having the courage to make the unpopular call.
Enough of that. Here’s an interesting piece of information. The Vatican has declared St. Isidore of Seville as the patron saint of the Internet.
St. Isidore (c. 560-636 AD) was a powerful bishop in Spain. He wrote “Etymologies,” an encyclopedic tract in which he tried to record everything that is known.
He was one of the greatest scholars of the early Middle Ages. No wonder, the church thought he was an apt selection to represent what is now called the Internet.
You might also be interested to know that the Weblog Awards is now on. It is acknowledged to be the world’s largest blog competition, with over one million votes cast in the last three years for more than 1,000 blogs in the competition.
This year, the organizers of the award opened the competition on Nov. 24. Voting started last Dec. 7 until Dec. 15. Well over 45 categories are participating. Check the awards at http://2006.weblogawards.org.
A Filipino, whose URL is www.pinoystupid.com, is vying for the best Asian blogs category. I am not comfortable with his theme or his name, however. But when I visited his website, I learned he writes well.
If you have time, please support our fellow Filipino. You can vote once every day.
