EU lauds PH’s efforts to join Budapest Convention on Cybercrime

EU Ambassador Franz Jessen (File photo from AFP)

The European Union (EU) Delegation to the Philippines on Tuesday lauded the Philippines’ efforts to join the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, a global initiative to combat crimes perpetrated on the world wide web.

EU Ambassador Franz Jessen recognized the country’s accession to the convention as he emphasized the need for international cooperation and dialogue to address cybercrime.

“Cybercrime knows no borders, to fight it we need international cooperation,” Jessen said during the Training of Trainers Course on Cybercrime and Electronic Evidence for Judges, Magistrates and Prosecutors of the ASEAN Region which opened on Tuesday in Manila.

“We need international agreements.  We need dialogues so that we find ways to learn from each other especially as we have a shared objective in this fight against cybercrime,” he said.

The Budapest Convention tackles the detection, investigation, and prosecution at both the domestic and international levels against cybercrime. It also provides arrangements for “rapid and reliable international cooperation.”

Jessen said that as soon as the Philippines’ “Instrument of Accession” would be deposited at the Council of Europe, the country would become the 57th party to the Budapest Convention.

Erickson Balmes, Undersecretary of the Department of Justice (DOJ), said that “no country has a monopoly on addressing cybercrime,” according to Jessen.

Balmes had also emphasized the commitment of the DOJ in its pursuit to upgrade skills of prosecutors in the country to fight cybercrime, Jessen said. /je