EUROPEAN Union (EU) Ambassador to the Philippines Franz Jessen has underscored the need for international cooperation and dialogue to address issues as compelling as cybercrime.
“Cybercrime knows no borders; to fight it, we need international cooperation,” Jessen said in his remarks at the Training of Trainers Course on Cybercrime and Electronic Evidence for Judges, Magistrates and Prosecutors of the Asean Region on March 20.
“We need international agreements [and] dialogues so that we [could] find ways to learn from each other, especially as we have a shared objective in this fight against cybercrime,” he added.
Jessen expressed his appreciation to the Philippines for its efforts in the past to join the Budapest Convention, which culminated with the passing of the Accession Instrument by the Senate in February this year.
Soon as the Philippine Instrument of Accession will be deposited at the Council of Europe, the Philippines will be the 57th party to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime.
The Convention provides the framework for harmonized and common definitions in prosecuting cybercrime offenses, as well as for the necessary procedural measures to provide law enforcement to investigate cybercrime.
“Having common legal and procedural standards is the foundation of international judicial cooperation, but the Convention further facilitates this by providing mechanisms for rapid and reliable international cooperation,” the EU envoy noted.
These include the expedited preservation of computer data and the network of 24/7 points of contact with designated central authorities from each member party to the convention.
Project Manager Manuel Almeida Pereira from the Council of Europe’s Global Action on Cybercrime (Glacy) said the Council has made a series of training for high-profile people on cybercrime to enable them to spread their knowledge to the region.
“Crime has no face in this digital age,” Pereira added.
The EU has worked together with the Council of Europe—an organization of 47 member-states—to fight cybercrime not only within its circle but also beyond. It started its efforts to engage with countries globally in international cybercrime cooperation.
Started with a budget of €3.35 million, Glacy was a concrete output of this initiative to support seven priority countries—among them, the Philippines—to prepare for the accession to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime. It was expanded in 2016 with the Global Action on Cybercrime Extended (Glacy+), which had a €12-million budget from the European Commission and another €1.3 million from the Council of Europe.
Jessen said that, given the Philippine commitment and its rich experience in driving the fight against cybercrime, the Philippines functions as a hub within Glacy+.
Undersecretary Erickson H. Balmes of the Department of Justice said no country has a monopoly on addressing cybercrime as he expressed his thanks to the Council of Europe for the Glacy project. He expressed the commitment of the justice department as it pursues to upgrade the skills of prosecutors in the country to fight cybercrime.