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

Mariecar Jara-Puyod, Senior Reporter

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

According to the WAM, Al Marri and Abalos have also addressed topics of mutual interest and explored the critical practices of the Dubai Police in solving all sorts of crime, including organised transnational crimes committed by a web of mafia and syndicates, by way of the  well-established coordination and collaboration with international bodies.

Abalos, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Maj. Gen. Rommel Marbil, PNP-Women and Protection Centre chief Brig. Gen. 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, that included an orientation on the facilities at the Dubai Command Control Centre such as the three-dimensional map of the entire emirate, the patrol dispatching system, and the Drone Box platform resulting in the efficient and one-minute response to emergency calls and detected crimes, they paid a courtesy call to UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan which was also attended by UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Lt. Gen. Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Alfonso Ferdinand Ver, on September 10 (Tuesday).

Meanwhile, Abalos made a quick speech at the September 8 “Filipino Community Town Hall Meeting” in Dubai through which he had expressed his gratefulness to the UAE Ministry of Interior and Dubai Police.

At the town hall meeting attended by Ver, Consul General in Dubai and the Northern Emirates Marford Angeles, and Labour 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 UAE and Dubai Governments are very kind. I am here with our PNP officials because what I am pushing for is much closer relations between our countries. Aside from enhancing our police capabilities, if we could only have the same state-of-the-art equipment such as the cameras they have here; so we could replicate the peace and order everyone in the UAE are enjoying because of the almost zero crime rate, it would really be a Bagong Pilipinas (New Philippines) for all of us back home.”

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

“The UAE approached us for their possible assistance in connection with online sexual exploitation of children because the Philippines had been identified as among the most victimised,” Abalos said.

Consequently, the July to August 2024 UAE Ministry of Interior-Child Protection Centre “Child Protection Specialist Programme” in the Philippines recently graduated 100 PNP personnel equipped with enhanced knowledge and skills on responses against child abuse and exploitation and handling electronic forensic evidence.

From the town hall meeting open forum and in answer to the Gulf Today enquiry on the programme, PNP-Women and Protection Centre chief Brig. Gen. Manalad likewise expressed utmost gratitude to the UAE: “The UAE donated sophisticated tools and devices particularly in the area of Artificial Intelligence (AI). We need these against transnational crimes such as online sexual exploitation against children because these lie in the deep dark web usually committed by IT professionals.”

In answer to another Gulf Today question, the first alumna of the Philippine National Police Academy, said the Philippines must maintain its ties with the International Police because this agency facilitates the arrest of fugitives and crime suspects.