THE Nordic Liaison Office (NLO) in Manila welcomed the National Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS) delegation headed by director general Kristin Ottesen Kvigne and the director of Prosecution and Legal Affairs Erik Marthinussen for its first country visit and inspection of its local office in Manila last March.
The delegation also met with the ambassadors of Sweden, Finland and Denmark in the Philippines for a presentation of the work that NLO-Manila is doing to fight online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC) in the country.
According to the Department of Justice, OSEC is a significant issue in the Philippines, which has seen an upward trend of 264.6 percent. NLO takes part in coordinating investigations of local cases, specifically on cross-border organized crimes such as OSEC, organized crime groups, human trafficking, kidnapping, financial fraud and various forms of cyber crime.
The delegation also met with Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief PGen. Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr., National Bureau of Investigation director Atty. Medardo G. de Lemos and members of the foreign law-enforcement community such as the Australian Federal Police, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the United Kingdom National Crime Agency, and nongovernment cooperating agencies International Justice Mission and United Nations-Office on Drugs and Crime to strengthen the cooperation between Philippine and Nordic law enforcement, judicial and civic authorities.
NLO coordinates international police cooperation in the Philippines to combat transnational criminal cases such as OSEC. The first cooperation of the Nordic police in addressing the online concern started in 2018 with the PNP.
Established in March 2020, the NLO headquarters is currently housed at the Royal Norwegian Embassy.
