Not too long ago, an incident concerning a virus outbreak has been the talk in the social media and televisions. One with social consciousness would remember that on the last weeks of December and the first weeks of January, the virus started spreading out rapidly infecting 28, 000 in China alone, as stated by Yeung (2020) in an article published by CNN. According to World Health Organization, Coronavirus, also known as nCoV is a virus which can cause illness like cold or a much more alarming disease like SARS-CoV or MERS-CoV. It is believed to have been originated from Wuhan, China, which started from bats (Rettner, 2020). With more than 28,000 infected and over 560 people killed, this happening has caused a flask to the nation making the government in almost every country take cautions in case the virus will spread in their countries, including the Philippines. According to CNBC, President Rodrigo Duterte has barred those who are coming from Hubei Province, which is the epicenter of the virus, including the special administrative regions, Hong Kong and Macau. However, in line with the rapid rising of infected people all over the country and despite the number of deaths confirmed, the Philippine tourism remains unbothered over the fact that corona virus is spreading fast and this has both positive and negative implication to Filipino citizens.
The Philippines which is famous for its many beautiful places and culture are one of the things why tourism is high and a very important part of the economy. Tourism is also one of the biggest contributors to the economic growth and development of a country. But after the outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus many people are worried about the possible decrease in tourism. Based from the recent statement of the Tourism secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat “the safety of our tourists is number one” simply says that tourists should not be afraid of going to the Philippines after the scare of 2019 novel coronavirus. But in reality, tourist arrivals in the Philippines are decreasing mostly from the second biggest tourists arriving in the country, the Chinese. It is because of the temporary travel ban on China, Hong Kong and Macau. It is issued by the president after the death of the first confirmed case of (nCoV) in the Philippines.
The arguments stated by the Tourism secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat are all consistent because of repeatedly saying that it is safe to travel in the Philippines which is somehow convincing. But because of the recent events like the increasing cases of coronavirus, tourism will probably decrease because of they will be afraid of getting infected by the virus. As stated by the Tourism secretary that “We are very careful, we stress on safety” was not true, because there would be no Chinese that is infected of (nCoV) that can pass their security measures specifically the first case if they really focused on our safety. Their strongest argument was when she said that it is safe to come to Philippines despite of the outbreak. She stated that “For me, I want the tourists to know that we want everybody who comes to the Philippines to be safe”.
The sudden spread of the coronavirus and the government implementing travel ban very late has both positive and negative implications to the Filipino citizens. And as each day passes by and as time continues more negative views arises from people who worries about their safety. Everyone is well aware that it can be spread through air and they are all worried, as there is still no cure available for the virus. The world health organization recently released an information about the mentioned virus that it is still possible to interrupt virus spread. Therefore, information should always be provided and given to people to know how to prevent Coronavirus. The WHO should continue to provide operational support and safety awareness to respond to this outbreak. Safety is and should always be prioritized at all times, what President Rodrigo Duterte did (banning those coming from China, Hong Kong and Macau) helped stopped the number of more infected people to arise. However, the Department of Tourism should not be calm and be contented over the fact that they believe the country is safe for tourists and would always be safe. They should keep in mind that the first case of Coronavirus that died outside China is in the Philippines, as cited by. They should also keep in mind that aif one person is infected, the virus would spread fast and could infect anyone and everyone in no time. And as quoted by Desiderius Erasmus, 'Prevention really is better than cure' as it is better to deal with something before it worsens rather than to deal with it in the end wherein you cannot or you might not be able to fix it or find any cure for it.