PH Highlights Progress in Counter-Terrorism Efforts at Briefing with UN Security Council Committee

UNITED NATIONS, New York, 04 June 2021 – At a virtual meeting held on 28 May 2021, the Philippines briefed the UN Security Council - Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) on the country’s progress in the implementation of the CTC’s recommendations from a visit to the Philippines of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) on 12-14 October 2019.

Serving as the Head of the Philippine Delegation, Undersecretary Camilo Pancratius P. Cascolan of the Anti-Terrorism Council–Program Management Center (ATC-PMC) told the Committee that the government’s counter-terrorism efforts are “anchored on the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and in compliance with our international obligations under Security Council resolution 1373 (2001), and other pertinent resolutions and international legal instruments.”

The Committee was led by its Chair, Ambassador and Permanent Representative Tarek Ladeb of Tunisia.

ATC-PMC Assistant Executive Director Florentino Manalastas, Jr. provided an overview of the steps taken by the government on aspects of these recommendations, particularly on counter-terrorism legislation and judicial issues. The other areas in which progress was highlighted were countering terrorism financing, law enforcement, border control, countering violent extremism, and respect for human rights while countering terrorism.

The Committee members expressed appreciation for the remarkable progress made by the Philippines in many areas of implementation. The meeting was also an opportunity to discuss further cooperation between the Philippines and the UN on counter-terrorism and priority areas of technical assistance.

The briefing also included, among others, representatives from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Office for Transportation Security (OTS), Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), Bureau of Immigration (BI), Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), and the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).

CTED, on behalf of CTC, conducts visits to Member States in order to monitor, facilitate and promote the implementation of Security Council resolutions 1373 (2001), 1624 (2005), 2178 (2014), 2396 (2017) and other relevant Security Council resolutions. END

For more information, visit https://www.un.int/philippines/ and https://www.facebook.com/PHMissionNY/ .