Daily Tribune
U.S. Embassy Acting Senior Regional Security Officer Daniel Art (seated, center) and Zamboanga del Sur Gov. Divina Grace Yu (seated, second from left) sign a Memorandum of Agreement to establish a primary hub for collaborative law enforcement training programs.
The United States will fund a P30.8-million anti-terrorism training facility for Philippine law enforcement in Pagadian City under an agreement signed Thursday with the Zamboanga del Sur provincial government.
The project, financed through the US Department of State’s Antiterrorism Assistance (ATA) program, will establish permanent training facilities for the Philippine National Police to host recurring specialized counterterrorism courses.
“This investment in Pagadian reflects our confidence in the PNP and our conviction that a safer, more capable PNP means a safer Philippines, a safer United States, and a stronger alliance between our two nations,” said Daniel Art, acting senior regional security officer at the US Embassy in Manila.
The embassy said the ATA program has trained more than 10,000 Filipino law enforcement personnel since 2006 in counterterrorism investigation, response and threat mitigation.
The new facility is expected to train about 2,000 police officers and other law enforcement personnel each year.
