PNP to co-host Interpol-led training-workshop
Published May 1, 2018 03:52 pm
By Martin Sadongdong
Preventing and combating terrorism and related transnational crimes through the use of open source and social media investigations will be the focal point of a training-workshop that was initiated by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) and will be co-hosted by the Philippine National Police (PNP) from May 2 to May 11.
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Oscar Albayalde (ALVIN KASIBAN/MANILA BULLETIN)
PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said representatives from Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), a regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of nations in South Asia, will be attending the training-workshop on Open Source and Social Media Investigations to be held in Manila.
Albayalde said the training-workshop is part of "Project Scorpius," an Interpol initiative funded by the government of Canada that "seeks to provide Interpol member-countries with skills to apply relevant and sustainable techniques to prevent and combat terrorism through Open Source and Social Media Investigations."
In its website, the Interpol said Project Scorpius is a two-year initiative which started in 2017 to "adopt a holistic approach by bringing together relevant actors across the law enforcement community, including key decision makers, counter-terrorism and transnational crime investigators, intelligence officers, officers from Interpol National Central Bureaus (NCBs), criminal justice agencies, prosecutors and police training institutions."
"Through Project Scorpius, the government of Canada will continue its partnership with Interpol in support of ASEAN and South Asian countries. This project will provide us with an efficient way to bring together the most appropriate expertise to address common challenges, and a path for strengthening our networks and preventing the spread of terrorism," said Marie-Louise Hannan, Ambassador of Canada to ASEAN.
The Interpol announced that a key aspect of the project is "to ensure that police in the beneficiary countries are knowledgeable on how to use all of Interpol’s policing capabilities to the fullest extent in their daily police work, including criminal databases, forensics and intelligence analysis."
"Based on the needs of each country, training support will be provided in the required areas," it added.
Aside from the Philippines, other beneficiary countries include Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, according to Interpol.
The first training workshop was held in December 2017 in Jakarta, Indonesia and this year, it will be Manila's turn to facilitate the event.
Open sources and social media in tracking the operations of terror and other crime groups in the Philippines have long been used as a tool not only by the PNP but also by the military.
When the ISIS-inspired Maute terror group laid siege to Marawi City last year, top police and military officials said the terror groups were also using social media as an outlet of their propaganda.
It even came to a point where government authorities had to warn social media users from spreading malicious posts to spread fear among the public, and avoid exposing the strategic positions of the soldiers and cops on the ground through the Internet.
With the training-workshop, the PNP is hoping that its personnel will be able to learn new strategies to combat and prevent terrorism through investigations anchored on open sources and social media monitoring.
The PNP has several arm agencies which deal with investigations related to social media and the Internet, such as the Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) and the Directorate for Information and Communications Technology Management (DICTM).
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Oscar Albayalde (ALVIN KASIBAN/MANILA BULLETIN)
PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said representatives from Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), a regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of nations in South Asia, will be attending the training-workshop on Open Source and Social Media Investigations to be held in Manila.
Albayalde said the training-workshop is part of "Project Scorpius," an Interpol initiative funded by the government of Canada that "seeks to provide Interpol member-countries with skills to apply relevant and sustainable techniques to prevent and combat terrorism through Open Source and Social Media Investigations."
In its website, the Interpol said Project Scorpius is a two-year initiative which started in 2017 to "adopt a holistic approach by bringing together relevant actors across the law enforcement community, including key decision makers, counter-terrorism and transnational crime investigators, intelligence officers, officers from Interpol National Central Bureaus (NCBs), criminal justice agencies, prosecutors and police training institutions."
"Through Project Scorpius, the government of Canada will continue its partnership with Interpol in support of ASEAN and South Asian countries. This project will provide us with an efficient way to bring together the most appropriate expertise to address common challenges, and a path for strengthening our networks and preventing the spread of terrorism," said Marie-Louise Hannan, Ambassador of Canada to ASEAN.
The Interpol announced that a key aspect of the project is "to ensure that police in the beneficiary countries are knowledgeable on how to use all of Interpol’s policing capabilities to the fullest extent in their daily police work, including criminal databases, forensics and intelligence analysis."
"Based on the needs of each country, training support will be provided in the required areas," it added.
Aside from the Philippines, other beneficiary countries include Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, according to Interpol.
The first training workshop was held in December 2017 in Jakarta, Indonesia and this year, it will be Manila's turn to facilitate the event.
Open sources and social media in tracking the operations of terror and other crime groups in the Philippines have long been used as a tool not only by the PNP but also by the military.
When the ISIS-inspired Maute terror group laid siege to Marawi City last year, top police and military officials said the terror groups were also using social media as an outlet of their propaganda.
It even came to a point where government authorities had to warn social media users from spreading malicious posts to spread fear among the public, and avoid exposing the strategic positions of the soldiers and cops on the ground through the Internet.
With the training-workshop, the PNP is hoping that its personnel will be able to learn new strategies to combat and prevent terrorism through investigations anchored on open sources and social media monitoring.
The PNP has several arm agencies which deal with investigations related to social media and the Internet, such as the Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) and the Directorate for Information and Communications Technology Management (DICTM).