Latest news with #JuanitoVictorRemulla
Arab News
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Philippines, UAE sign agreement to combat cybercrime, drug trafficking
MANILA: The Philippines has signed a new security agreement with the UAE to tackle transnational and organized crime, officials said on Tuesday. Signed by Philippine Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla and UAE Interior Minister Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the new deal focuses on cybercrime, drug trafficking and human trafficking. 'Transnational crimes with global networks powered by new technologies and the ease of cross-border movement of persons and criminal syndicates need more international cooperation and partnerships,' Alfonso Ver, Philippine ambassador to the UAE, told Arab News on Tuesday. 'This is one concrete step to address the growing menace above … We have gone into new and heretofore unexplored areas of bilateral cooperation, moving beyond the issues of OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers), migration and oil.' The Philippines and the UAE celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations last year. The two countries have been working to expand security ties over the past few years, with discussions ongoing for a wide-ranging bilateral defense pact. In 2021, the Philippines posted a defense attache in the UAE, making it the only country in the Middle East where Manila has such representation. The two countries also signed several treaties on extradition, mutual legal assistance and transfer of prisoners in February. Ver said the new agreement was a 'milestone' that provides a 'strategic framework' that will help guide Philippine-UAE 'future engagements in a more structured, sustainable, and effective' manner. It is also expected to promote the exchange of best practices and expertise. 'We discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations between the two friendly countries and develop cooperation in the security and police fields,' Sheikh Saif said in a post on X, referring to his meeting with Remulla. 'This underscores our shared commitment to supporting effective international institutional cooperation to enhance the security and stability of societies.' Cybercrime and trafficking have been growing concerns for countries like the Philippines. More than 200 Filipinos were among several thousand people freed in late February and March from online scam centers run by syndicates operating along Myanmar's border with Thailand, where many of them are believed to have been recruited and trafficked by criminal gangs. Lured by well-paid job offers in Thailand, they were released in a weeks-long, highly publicized crackdown by Thai, Myanmar and Chinese forces.
Al Etihad
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Al Etihad
Saif bin Zayed meets Philippine Interior Minister
21 Apr 2025 20:45 ABU DHABI (WAM)His Highness Lieutenant General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior of the UAE, met in Abu Dhabi with Juanito Victor Remulla, Secretary of the Interior and Local Government of the Republic of the the meeting, the two sides discussed ways to step up cooperation and strengthen existing partnerships between the UAE and the Philippines, particularly in the fields of policing and meeting also marked the signing of a bilateral security agreement aimed at bolstering joint efforts in combating crime, and promoting the exchange of best practices and expertise between the two at the meeting were Major General Khalifa Hareb Al Khaili, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Interior; Major General Sheikh Mohammed bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Director-General of the Abu Dhabi Police; Brigadier Saeed Abdullah Al Suwaidi, Director-General of the Federal Anti-Narcotics Department; along with several senior officers from the Ministry of Interior. Secretary Remulla was accompanied by Lilian de Leon, Assistant Secretary for International Affairs; Heidi Sy, Executive Assistant; and other members of the Philippine delegation.
Voice of America
26-02-2025
- Voice of America
Philippine police rescue kidnapped teen, hunt ex-gambling site operators
A young kidnap victim clad in pajamas and missing a finger was rescued from the side of a busy Manila thoroughfare this week after his abductors ditched him during a police pursuit, Philippine authorities said Wednesday. The kidnappers, like their teenaged target, were Chinese nationals, said the interior department's Juanito Victor Remulla, and part of a "sophisticated" syndicate with ties to the now-banned offshore gambling sites known locally as POGOs. Notorious as fronts for human trafficking, money laundering and fraud, POGOs were banned by President Ferdinand Marcos last year, sending those who worked for them in search of new income streams. "We are definite that the syndicate behind the kidnapping were former POGO operators," Remulla told reporters, adding those involved had lost a lucrative living when the sites were shuttered. The kidnappers tried and failed to obtain a ransom -- at one point sending the parents a video of the victim's finger being severed -- before they were tracked down on Tuesday and pursued by police who homed in on their cellphone signal. "The choice was pursuing the vehicle or securing the child. Obviously, the [police] prioritized the child," Remulla said. A manhunt remains underway. The boy's driver, who had picked him up outside an exclusive private school days earlier, was found murdered inside another vehicle in Bulacan province north of Manila. "These [cases] arose in January after all POGOs were closed; they got into kidnapping," Remulla said, without providing statistics. AFP is aware of at least two other kidnapping cases involving Chinese nationals living in the Philippines this year. While describing the incident as "Chinese against Chinese" crime, Remulla said disaffected former Filipino police or soldiers were likely used as foot soldiers in some cases. Gilberto Cruz, chief of the Philippines' anti-organized crime commission, told AFP that government figures showed there were still about 11,000 Chinese nationals in the country after the gambling sites they worked for were shuttered. "Some have turned to other crimes, but we can't provide numbers as of now," he said, before adding that some had likely ventured into "kidnapping operations." At a press conference on Wednesday, the immigration department said about 300 foreign nationals linked to POGOs were being held at a detention facility built for 100 while awaiting deportation. In a separate statement, the department said 98 Chinese nationals had been repatriated to China aboard a chartered Philippine Airlines flight on Tuesday night. The Chinese embassy said the joint repatriation marked "another step in the law enforcing cooperation of the two countries after the ban on POGOs."
Khaleej Times
26-02-2025
- Khaleej Times
Philippine police rescue kidnapped teen, hunt ex-gambling site operators
A young kidnap victim clad in pajamas and missing a finger was rescued from the side of a busy Manila thoroughfare this week after his abductors ditched him during a police pursuit, Philippine authorities said on Wednesday. The kidnappers, like their teenaged target, were Chinese nationals, said the interior department's Juanito Victor Remulla, part of a "sophisticated" syndicate with ties to the now-banned offshore gambling sites known locally as POGOs. Notorious as fronts for human trafficking, money laundering and fraud, POGOs were banned by President Ferdinand Marcos last year, sending those who worked for them in search of new income streams. "We are definite that the syndicate behind the kidnapping were former POGO operators," Remulla told reporters, adding those involved had lost a lucrative living when the sites were shuttered. The kidnappers tried and failed to obtain a ransom — at one point sending the parents a video of the victim's finger being severed — before they were tracked down on Tuesday and pursued by police who homed in on their cellphone signal. "The choice was pursuing the vehicle or securing the child. Obviously, the (police) prioritised the child," Remulla said. A manhunt remains underway. The boy's driver, who had picked him up outside an exclusive private school days earlier, was found murdered inside another vehicle in Bulacan province north of Manila. "These (cases) arose in January after all POGOs were closed, they got into kidnapping," Remulla said, without providing statistics. AFP is aware of at least two other kidnapping cases involving Chinese nationals living in the Philippines this year. While describing the incident as "Chinese against Chinese" crime, Remulla said disaffected former Filipino police or soldiers were likely used as footsoldiers in some cases. Gilberto Cruz, chief of the Philippines' anti-organised crime commission, told AFP that government figures showed there were still about 11,000 Chinese nationals in the country after the gambling sites they worked for were shuttered. "Some have turned to other crimes, but we can't provide numbers as of now," he said, before adding that some had likely ventured into "kidnapping operations". At a press conference on Wednesday, the immigration department said about 300 foreign nationals linked to POGOs were being held at a detention facility built for 100 while awaiting deportation. In a separate statement, the department said 98 Chinese nationals had been repatriated to China aboard a chartered Philippine Airlines flight on Tuesday night. The Chinese embassy said the joint repatriation marked "another step in the law enforcing cooperation of the two countries after the ban on POGOs".
