Philippines to deploy Korean-speaking police in response to crime wave

The Philippines is setting up tourist security desks staffed by Korean-speaking police officers after a spate of crimes targeting South Korean nationals in the country.
Advertisement
The Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Commission (PAOCC) announced the measures on Tuesday, The Philippine Star newspaper reported.
It said that the desks would be placed in police stations located in areas with significant Korean populations.
Officers assigned to the desks will undergo basic Korean language training, with support from South Korean officials, according to online media outlet Brigada News.
PAOCC Executive Director Gilbert Cruz said the initiative aimed to improve interactions between law enforcement and Korean-speaking visitors and residents.
A Filipino policeman stands outside a police station in Quezon City, Metro Manila. Photo Reuters
Police patrols will also be increased in areas with a high concentration of South Koreans. Most South Korean nationals in the Philippines live in expat-friendly cities such as Manila, Angeles and Cebu, which are also popular tourist destinations.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

South China Morning Post

a day ago

• South China Morning Post

South China Sea: China Coast Guard uses water cannon to expel Philippine vessel from shoal

China says its coastguard used a water cannon in an effort to expel a Philippine government vessel that entered waters of the disputed Scarborough Shoal in Beijing's latest confrontation with Manila in the disputed South China Sea China Coast Guard spokesman Liu Dejun said in a statement on Friday afternoon that Philippine vessel 3006 had 'ignored repeated warnings and insistently intruded' into Chinese waters near the strategic shoal. In response, China Coast Guard had implemented standard enforcement measures, including verbal warnings, close monitoring and water cannons to drive away the unauthorised ship, Liu said. 01:25 Chinese military helicopter and Philippine patrol plane in close encounter over Scarborough Shoal Chinese military helicopter and Philippine patrol plane in close encounter over Scarborough Shoal 'The Philippine side's actions constitute a serious violation of China's sovereignty and international law,' Liu said, adding that the Chinese side's response was 'professional, lawful and justified' under China's Coast Guard Law and related regulations. Manila has not commented on any incident at Scarborough Shoal or China's statement. The confrontation came a day after China accused the Philippines of 'illegally' operating in waters near the disputed Half Moon and Royal Captain shoals. In a late night statement on Thursday, Liu said China's coastguard had 'handled the situation in accordance with the law and regulations, with the on-site operations conducted in a professional and standardised manner'. 'The Philippine government vessels, under the pretext of so-called fishery protection, have illegally infringed upon China's rights and provocatively undermined stability in the South China Sea,' the statement said.

South China Morning Post

3 days ago

• South China Morning Post

TikTok fuelling rise of fascist youth movement in the Philippines, experts warn

In a TikTok video viewed more than 170,000 times, the eyes of senatorial candidates from the Philippines ' ruling coalition are blacked out with a caption that reads: 'Liberal politics is the most corrupt thing you can get.' Another video, more ominous still, flashes the phrase 'Fight them before they kill you' over symbols of Muslims, Jews, communists, Freemasons and the LGBTQ community – each struck through by a sword. They are just a few examples of an increasingly visible fringe movement brewing in the Philippines' online underworld, where a new generation of far-right extremists is using social media platforms such as TikTok and Discord to recruit, radicalise and rally disaffected youth. The movement, known as the Philippine Falangist Front (PFF), is part of a small but growing network of digital communities promoting fascist ideology in Southeast Asia, according to a recent study by the Global Network on Extremism and Technology. Example of Philippine Falangist Front (PFF) online propaganda. Photo: TikTok Their message is incendiary: the Philippines is a nation in crisis, and only a return to authoritarian Catholic rule can restore order. 'They commonly produce content or engage in discussions lamenting the Philippines' and the world's descent into a so-called godless society,' said Saddiq Basha, the report's author and a research analyst at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

South China Morning Post

5 days ago

• South China Morning Post

Philippines' ‘mole people' highlight plight of homeless living under the radar

First, a head emerged from a drain hole in broad daylight. Then came arms and legs. Like a scene out of a horror film, such was the eerie image that unfolded when a woman was spotted crawling out of a sewer on the corner of the streets of Adelantado and VA Rufino, one of the busiest areas in the financial district of Makati City in the Philippines. The photo, which had quickly gone viral online and was later published by several local media outlets, was taken by a hobbyist photographer, who asked to be identified by the alias William Roberts. Roberts told This Week in Asia he was taking photos around the area while walking home as part of his regular routine when the scene unfolded before his eyes. 'While waiting at a pedestrian light, [I saw a head] pop out of a canal. Since I was already taking photos, I framed her within the camera, kept taking photos, and she kept crawling out,' Roberts, who works in the software industry, told This Week in Asia. As soon as the woman fully emerged from the canal, a police officer nearby spotted her and demanded to know what she was doing. 'I just kept clicking until she started running towards me … then she just ran past me,' he said.