05 April 2023, CANBERRA - Ambassador Ma. Hellen De La Vega together with officers of the Philippine Embassy and the Office of the Defense and Armed Forces Attaché in Canberra welcomed officials from the Philippine National Police (PNP) led by PNP Chief PGen Rodolfo Azurin Jr. to the Embassy on 04 April.

The delegation, also composed of the Director for Investigation and Detective Management PMGen Eliseo Cruz, Director for Logistics PMGen Rolando Olay, Director for Information and Communication Technology PMGen Valeriano De Leon, Director for Plans PMGen Richard Banac and Director for Personnel and Records and Management PMGen Robert Rodriguez, will be visiting the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) and the facilities of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in Canberra and Brisbane as part of the cooperation of the two countries in strengthening law enforcement and addressing transnational crimes.

Ambassador De La Vega emphasized the importance of the ongoing strong police cooperation between the Philippines and Australia. The Ambassador exchanged views with the delegation on pursuing initiatives and capacity-building efforts with Australia towards strengthening resilience against the evolving nature of transnational criminal activities across the region, especially those related to cyber security, terrorism and online child exploitation and abuse.

Cooperation between the PNP and AFP commenced in 1984 and since then, the PNP and AFP have expanded their collaboration on a range of activities to combat terrorism and transnational crime. In 2019, the Philippine Internet Crimes Against Children Centre (PICACC) was jointly established by the PNP in partnership with the AFP, the National Bureau of Investigation, the United Kingdom National Crime Agency and the International Justice Mission. The PNP-AFP MOU on combating transnational crime and developing police cooperation was renewed in February 2022. -END-