UAE, Philippines strengthen mutual security cooperation

Lieutenant General Abdulla Khalifa Al Marri welcomed Benhur Abalos at the Dubai Police Headquarters. WAM

Mariecar Jara-Puyod, Senior Reporter

Dubai Police Commander-in-Chief Lt. Gen. Abdulla Khalifa Al Marri and Philippine Secretary of the Interior and Local Government Benhur Abalos discussed strategies to strengthen cooperation and improve bilateral relations between their countries in the fields of security and policing.

According to WAM, Al Marri and Abalos also discussed topics of mutual interest and explored the key practices of Dubai Police in solving all types of crimes, including organised cross-border crimes committed by a network of mafia and syndicates, through its well-established coordination and cooperation with international agencies.

Abalos, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Major General Rommel Marbil, PNP Women and Protection Center chief, Brigadier General Portia Manalad, and PNP Bureau of Jail and Management Penology director Ruel Rivera arrived in Dubai on September 8 (Sunday).

Prior to the meeting with Al Marri, which included an orientation on the Dubai Command Control Centre’s facilities such as the 3D map of the entire emirate, the patrol system and the Drone Box platform, which ensures efficient and one-minute response to distress calls and detected crimes, they paid a courtesy call on the President of the UAE, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The visit was also attended by UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Lt. Gen. Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Alfonso Ferdinand Ver, on September 10 (Tuesday).

Meanwhile, Abalos delivered a short speech at the “Filipino Community Town Hall Meeting” on September 8 in Dubai, expressing his gratitude to the UAE Ministry of Interior and the Dubai Police.

During the town hall meeting, attended by Ver, Consul General in Dubai and the Northern Emirates Marford Angeles, and Labor Attache in Dubai and the Northern Emirates John Rio Bautista, Abalos also said, in a mix of Filipino and English: “You are very fortunate. The governments of the UAE and Dubai are very kind. I am here with our PNP officials because I am pushing for much closer relations between our countries. Aside from improving our police capabilities, if only we could have the same state-of-the-art equipment like the cameras they have here; so that we could replicate the peace and order that everyone in the UAE enjoys because of the near-zero crime rate, it would truly be a Bagong Pilipinas (New Philippines) for all of us back home.”

Abalos, who had to return to the Philippines with Marbil that night in connection with the arrest of televangelist Pastor Apollo Quiboloy and six others (all now in custody) accused of human trafficking and child sexual abuse, recalled that the closer working relationship between the UAE and the Philippines against organized transnational crimes began at the 2023 United Nations “International Convention against Transnational Crimes” in Vienna, Austria.

“The UAE approached us for possible assistance in relation to online child sexual exploitation as the Philippines was identified as one of the top victim countries,” said Abalos.

As a result, the UAE Ministry of Interior’s Child Protection Specialist Programme, the Child Protection Centre in the Philippines recently trained 100 PNP personnel from July to August 2024, equipping them with enhanced knowledge and skills in responding to child abuse and exploitation and handling electronic forensic evidence.

Speaking at the public forum of the council chamber meeting and in response to the Gulf Today survey on the programme, PNP Women and Protection Centre chief Brig Gen Manalad also expressed his deep gratitude to the UAE: “The UAE donated advanced tools and equipment, especially in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). We need these to combat transnational crimes such as online child sexual exploitation, as these are in the deep dark web and are mostly committed by IT professionals.”

In response to another question from Gulf Today, the first graduate of the Philippine National Police Academy said the Philippines should maintain its ties with the international police as the agency facilitates the arrest of fugitives and criminal suspects.