MANILA

MANILA (AFP) - Foreign businessmen in the Philippines should take security precautions against kidnappings even though the number of abductions has fallen in recent years, police said Friday.

Senior Supt. Leonardo Espina, the spokesman for the country's police forces, said the foreigners should hire armed bodyguards, and if possible, travel in bullet-proof vehicles.

Asked at a media forum if foreign investors should invest in their personal security, Espina said: "Definitely. When we build houses we put locks in them."

While foreigners cannot own guns themselves, they could always seek government permission to hire armed security personnel. "You would be given (a permit) if the threat is too high," he said.

"If they could afford (bullet-proof cars), then why not?"

But Espina asserted that the Philippines' reputation as Asia's kidnapping capital was misplaced, saying abductions had declined for years with confirmed cases down to 100 last year and 13 in the three months of 2002.

He blamed some kidnap victims for caving in to ransom.

"There are foreigners who fight and they are not potential targets of kidnappers. Kidnappers know who will pay or not. I'm sorry to say but Filipino-Chinese easily pay. There are not so many Japanese being kidnapped because Japanese do not pay."

Asked if victims who pay ransom are to blame, Espina said: "Yes, now they know their mistake. Once you pay you're laying down the business field to them. Kidnappers are businessmen, they just happen to belong to the illegal side of it. They just want the money. If
you deprive them of the demand then there's not going to be any supply. Why would I kidnap somebody who will not pay? It's all about the money. They don't want to kill, they just want the money."