IN a bid to end the country’s problem on insurgency and terrorism, the Philippine National Police (PNP) will soon have a “state-of-the-art” counter-terrorism training facility in Silang, Cavite.

On Thursday, August 15, PNP Chief Oscar Albayalde and US Embassy in Manila Deputy Chief of Mission John Law signed a memorandum of agreement for the construction of the Regional Counter-Terrorism Training Center at the PNP Academy in Silang, Cavite.

Albayalde said the initiative is part of the thorough and strengthened partnership between the Philippines and the US, especially in counter-terrorism efforts.

“We are grateful to the US Government for this project which we will establish a new training center which (is) mainly designed to boost our counter-terrorism capabilities that has been a global menace nowadays,” he said.

“This training facility will certainly provide the PNP with enhanced capability to address threats posed by domestic and transnational terrorism,” he added.

The training center is worth P350 million. Funding will be sourced from a P520-million planned US investment.

For its part, the US government through its embassy in the Philippines noted the benefits of the training center particularly for the law enforcement units of the Philippines as well as for its regional partner nations in Southeast Asia.

“The initiative comes in response to a request from the PNP for a state-of-the-art facility to provide enhanced regional counter-terrorism training. The establishment of this center reflects the U.S.’ enduring commitment to support Philippine counter-terrorism efforts and work together to address threats to peace and security in the region,” the US embassy in the Philippines said in a statement. (SunStar Philippines)