PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of martial law in Mindanao is said to have a positive effect on its economy, especially in the service and tourism sector.

In a news conference Thursday, April 25, National Economic and Development Authority (Neda)-Davao director Maria Lourdes Lim said there has been a notable deceleration of armed encounters and atrocities in the region since the declaration, which may inhibit investors to pursue their objectives.

“By these indicators alone, we could say that martial law has a positive effect on our overall business environment in the region, attracting more tourists. By the way, there is a notable increase of tourists in the region in 2018 also through the effort of our local government units (lgus) to attract more tourists in festivals and Meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) [activities],” Lim said.

Davao City Tourism Operations Office (CTOO) head Generose Tecson told SunStar Davao Thursday that despite the term “martial law” conjuring images of war, tanks, soldiers, and firefights, people seem to be happier and feel more secured in Davao City.

“For Davao, I feel that martial law has helped a lot with peace and order and stability plus the sense of adventure. Hence, people come over to Davao to experience this. In Kadayawan 2017, we were really apprehensive if people will come to Davao but they did,” Tecson said.

The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) public relations head Adrian Tamayo said that martial law ensures certainty and blanket of security for infrastructures in place.

“Martial law is uniquely positioned in the backdrop of business and tourism; it offered them, the businessmen and tourists a sense of security while regular governmental and private functions continue,” he said.

“This is the formula of PRRD when he was the mayor of the City, and now he is doing it to the benefit of the region and the whole Mindanao,” he added.