Press Release
April 20, 2014

Koko eyes VFA-type agreement for PNP

Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III wants the Philippine National Police to be better trained in preventing and solving crimes.

He has proposed a "Balikatan-type" agreement the PNP could enter into with countries that have advanced crime-solving and -fighting techniques and training covering crime from the petty to the violent and heinous.

Pimentel said the existing Visiting Forces Agreement between the Philippines and the United States is a "good starting point" for a model agreement that could be modified for the PNP into a Visiting Forces Police Agreement (VFPA).

"Instead of a 'Balikatan' exercise, our police force could undertake joint 'Kapatiran' exercises with police forces of other countries in order to improve the crime-fighting and crime-solving skills of the PNP," Pimentel said.

"We hear of stories about our people being victimized by criminals everywhere. Our goal is to have a police force that is not just properly armed but expertly trained in methods and techniques to prevent the proliferation of crimes," Pimentel said further.

One name he mentioned prominently is the Scotland Yard of the United Kingdom. An agreement could be explored with Scotland Yard whereby the PNP could benefit from advanced police training in such a specialized field as forensic science and similar new studies that have applied science to solving crimes, he said.

Pimentel said further this solution is timely because "there are crimes everywhere from petty crimes, crimes against property, all the way to violent heinous crimes including murder."

He cited unsolved the alarming level of drug-related crimes as well as the series of killings of broadcast and print journalists over the past several years.

No one has been pinpointed, arrested and prosecuted for the killings media personalities, especially those in Mindanao and the other provinces, Pimentel said.

The "Kapatiran" exercises would certainly help in the search for solutions to many unsolved crimes and thus lead to faster prosecution and the delivery of justice, he said.

Pimentel recalled that in decades past the Manila Police Force was called "Manila's Finest" earning its reputation for efficiency because its officer corps and rank-and-file were mostly staffed by qualified law school graduates.

He said boosting the police force's crime-fighting capabilities would also benefit LGUs across the country, because most crimes are "local in nature and need the local police to solve them."

"We begin with the training on crime-fighting and crime-prevention, and if we are successful here, we will start looking in areas where we could improve police efficiency and capability," Pimentel said.

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