MANILA - THE Philippines expressed surprise on Monday after Hong Kong warned its residents against travelling to the country because of possible terror attacks.
The 'black' travel advisory came despite other countries lowering the severity of similar warnings issued last month over terror attack fears in the Philippines, foreign ministry spokesman Eduardo Malaya said.
'We find it surprising that this updating of Hong Kong's black travel advisory comes at a time when a number of Manila-based foreign embassies have lowered their travel alerts,' Mr Malaya said in a statement.
The Hong Kong security bureau's advisory discourages all travel to the Philippines, which is entering its traditional peak December to February tourism season when many Hong Kong tourists visit.
The advisory cites 'the risk of possible terrorist attacks in Manila, including places frequented by foreigners'. It is similar to advisories issued by several Western countries in November that also warned of possible terror threats in Manila.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino strongly criticised the November advisories, saying they were not based on firm intelligence information.
