Aklan police wary of travel-insurance fraud perpetrated by foreign tourists

The Aklan Provincial Police Office is wary of the travel-insurance claims fraud as it closely scrutinizes requests for police reports, especially those coming from foreign tourists.

Police Senior Inspector Jose Mark Anthony Gesulga, chief of the Boracay Philippine National Police (PNP), said they have been alarmed because of the increasing number of foreign tourists filing and requesting for a police report.

The police expect more of these incidents piling up since Christmas is nearing and there will be long holidays for tourists. The travel-insurance claims fraud is reportedly common among Chinese and South Korean tourists.

“What we are doing right now is that when a foreign tourist files a police complaint, the complainant should first convince our police investigator that he has been a victim of robbery and snatching. If not, like his phone may have been lost, we still issue a police report but we indicate that it’s not for insurance purposes,” he said.

Gesulga, however, did not reveal how many foreign tourists have been suspected being involved in travel- insurance fraud.

Senior Police Officer 1 Nida Gregas, information officer of the Aklan Provincial Police Office, said that, from January to March this year, the Boracay police has already recorded 311 theft cases. But many of them are believed to be cases of travel-insurance fraud.

Police Senior Inspector Honey Mae Ruiz, acting chief of the Kalibo PNP, said as part of the security preparations this Christmas season they are maximizing the use of closed-circuit television (CCTVs) among commercial and residential centers here.

Currently, the local government of Kalibo is enacting a CCTV ordinance, which mandates large business establishments to install CCTVs. For small and medium businesses, the installation of CCTVs is optional.

“The use of CCTVs has helped us much in solving crimes this year. We have identified and arrested several suspects, especially those involved in robbery cases, because of the CCTV footages,” she said.