Sydney, Australia, 24 April 2004 – The Philippines and Australia have renewed their pledge to fight terrorism and transnational crimes, and have committed to strengthen bilateral and regional cooperation on law enforcement and information sharing, said Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Domingo Albert, who is currently
on an official visit to Australia.

The Secretary met today with Attorney General Philip Ruddock to review steps taken by both countries to implement their bilateral agreements on cooperation against international terrorism and transnational crime and to consider initiatives at the bilateral and multilateral level to prevent and suppress terrorist threats and attacks.

“The Philippines and Australia have both been victims of terrorists and their cohorts. Our commitment to work closely with Australia to combat terrorism reflects the high priority we attach to fight this threat and to strengthen the region’s counter-terrorism capacity as well,” Secretary Albert said. “Thus, close coordination between our respective law enforcement agencies and intelligence services is imperative in the fight against international terrorism and transnational crimes,” she added.

The Philippines and Australia recently signed a protocol agreement to help improve the Philippines’ counter-terrorism capability. The accord forms part of a three-year, US$5 million counter-terrorism assistance initiative, which was announced by Australian Prime Minister John Howard during his state visit to the
Philippines in July last year. 

Secretary Albert welcomed the signing of the agreement as an important step in the fight against crime and terrorism in the Philippines. “We welcome the intensified law enforcement cooperation between the Australian Federal Police and Philippine law enforcement agencies and the efforts by both our governments to strengthen the legal framework being used to fight transnational crime, including terrorism,” she said.

The Secretary also conveyed the wish of the Philippine government to ensure that relevant law enforcement agencies – the Philippine National Police (PNP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Bureau of Immigration (BI), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the Philippine Center on Transnational Crimes (PCTC) – are able to avail of the Australian offer of assistance to upgrade law enforcement capabilities in the area of policing, immigration, port security and regional cooperation. 

“The PNP in particular is keen to receive training on the latest police techniques and procedures and on the use of modern operational and investigative equipment to upgrade capability to identify possible terrorist threats and bring the suspected perpetrators to justice,” she said, adding that the Philippines also wishes to enhance the capability of its law enforcement agencies to undertake regional cooperation and collaboration with law enforcement and other relevant agencies in other countries. “The UN Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) has determined that regional cooperation is fundamental in the fight against terrorism,” she said.

Secretary Albert expressed her satisfaction on the outcome of her meeting with Atty. General Ruddock, who met with DILG Secretary Jose Lina in February at the sidelines of the Bali Ministerial Meeting on Counter-Terrorism Cooperation, co-hosted by Australia and Indonesia.

“I assured the Australian government that the resources they are allocating into improving the capacity of our counter-terrorism institutions are being put to good use and that progress is being made to curbing transnational crime. I am confident that our close cooperation on counter-terrorism will build on the initiatives that we have undertaken to ensure a comprehensive and integrated policy approach to fighting this scourge and in facilitating operational-level coordination between Philippine intelligence and security agencies and their Australian counterparts,” the Secretary said. END.