The Department of State warns that nonessential travel to the Philippines’ Sulu Archipelago should be deferred, due to the high threat of kidnapping of international travelers and violence linked to insurgency and terrorism there.
Exercise extreme caution on the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines, where criminal groups have clashed with the Philippine Armed Forces, particularly in rural areas, and terrorist groups have kidnapped international travelers and carried out bombings.
In Cotabato City and in the Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat provinces, the government maintains a state of emergency that compels a greater police presence. Security and safety conditions in the urban centers of Davao City, General Santos City and Cagayan de Oro City in Mindanao are generally more controlled.