Filipino Police Officer is New ASEANAPOL Executive Director

KUALA LUMPUR 15 January 2024 – PCOL David Martinez Vinluan of the Philippine National Police (PNP) is the new Executive Director of the ASEANAPOL Secretariat effective 11 January 2024, becoming the first Filipino to hold the position since ASEANAPOL was founded in 1981.

ASEANAPOL, with headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, is composed of all ASEAN Chiefs of Police and deals with operational, enforcement and preventive aspects of regional cooperation against transnational crimes. It was conceived during the first meeting of ASEAN Police Chiefs in Manila in 1981.

Prior to his appointment, PCOL Vinluan was the Chief of Policies, Plans, and Programs Division of the Directorate for Research and Development of the PNP.  He was also a member of the United Nation Peacekeeping Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and has worked at the United Nations Police Division at UN Headquarters in New York. 

The handover ceremony was held today at the Royal Malaysia Police Headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

The ceremony was led by Deputy Inspector General of the Royal Malaysian Police Dato Sri Ayob Khan bin Mydin Pitchay. Police BGen Nicolas Salvador, PNP Deputy Director for Plans, attended the ceremony on behalf of PNP Chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr., together with Police Attaché PCol. Excelso Lazaga, Jr. Second Secretary and Political Officer Johaira Wahab Manantan represented the Philippine Embassy. 

In his Assumption Speech, PCOL Vinluan committed to “carry on the fight against organized threats of transnational crimes in the region” and "continue to promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law in the relationship among countries in the region and adherence to the principles of the United Nations.”

PCOL Vinluan also paid a courtesy call on Ambassador-Designate Maria Angela A. Ponce. They exchanged views on how transnational crimes, such as human trafficking and cyber- crimes, also threaten the safety and livelihood of Filipino workers in Malaysia.

Ambassador-Designate Ponce conveyed the Embassy's readiness to work with ASEANAPOL on these matters. END

For more information, visit https://www.kualalumpurpe.dfa.gov.ph, https://www.philembassykl.org.my, or https://www.facebook.com/PHinMalaysia/.