May 23, 2025
MANILA – Police officers may be taught the Korean language to better perform their law enforcement duties at tourist assistance desks, according to the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC).
The PAOCC met with the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Manila and the United Korean Community Association in the Philippines last Friday to discuss efforts to combat violence against Koreans in the country.
“As they said, ‘If you’re able to form those tourist protection desks, we are willing to send the police officers who’ll man the desks so that they’ll learn basic Korean language,” PAOCC Executive Director Gilberto Cruz said in Filipino in a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon interview last Tuesday.
“During our first meeting with the Korean consulate and the Korean community, that was one of the things we suggested, and they agreed,” Cruz added.
READ: PH, S. Korea talk police cooperation in bid to fight violence vs Koreans
Among other solutions that the representatives of the two nations discussed were international police cooperation, intelligence gathering, and intensifying monitoring in key localities like Manila, Angeles City, and Cebu.
“Solving crimes is not solely the responsibility of the police. The community is included. The dynamics we saw were good, the community helping, especially the foreigners who are here and the law enforcement agencies,” Cruz said.