Philippine, Indonesian police expand counterterrorism cooperation
MANILA: The Philippine National Police (PNP) and their Indonesian counterpart (Polri) have sought to expand regional interagency cooperation against transnational crime and terrorism.
During the bilateral meeting in Abu Dhabi, the UAE, on Feb 7, the Secretary of the Interpol's National Central Bureau of Indonesia, International Relations Division of the Indonesian National Police, Police Brigadier General Amur Chandra Juli Buana, and PNP chief, Police General Rodolfo S Azurin Jr., reaffirmed their respective commitment on cooperation, capacity-building and combating transnational crimes.?
"This international understanding manifests the commitment of both Philippine and Indonesian police forces to enhance the level of partnership and cooperation between our two countries in fighting transnational crime and terrorism,” Azurin said in a statement.
Azurin also stated that the Philippines shares a wide border with Indonesia and strengthening cooperation on regional security issues between the two countries is essential.
Both police forces have formulated standard procedures in joint police operations, joint training on cooperation, a procedure in the conduct of hot pursuit operations along territorial waters, and guidelines for the handover of criminal suspects, said the statement.?
The PNP and Polri forged a Memorandum of Understanding on December 12, 2022, that will continue the conduct of maritime joint exercises, PHILINDO JCM and MARLEX, capacity-building training/courses, and security assistance to boost the anti-crime campaign of the two countries.?
The joint initiative of the two police forces seeks to prevent and control transnational crime activities including, but not limited to: drug trafficking, terrorism, arms smuggling, human trafficking, maritime piracy, cyber crimes, commercial crimes, credit card fraud, fraudulent travel documents, and other forms of commercial and financial fraud, the statement added.?
The bilateral meeting was among the highlights of the 24th Asian Regional Conference of the Interpol General Secretariat in Abu Dhabi from Feb 6 to 11.?