Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. (Photo from the Facebook page of the Office of the Chief PNP)
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) and its Indonesian counterpart forged an agreement to expanded interagency cooperation against transnational crime and terrorism.
The agreement was reached during the bilateral meeting between PNP chief General Rodolfo Azurin Jr. and Brigadier General Amur Chandra Juli Buana, secretary of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol)-Indonesia National Central Bureau held in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, February 7.
“This international understanding manifests the commitment of both Philippines 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 on Thursday.
The bilateral meeting was among the highlights of the 24th Asian Regional Conference of the Interpol General Secretariat in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates from February 6 to 11.
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 crime suspects.
“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 PNP also said. (Mae Anne Bilolo, INQUIRER.net trainee)