Enhancing regional security: The Philippines would be safer with Taiwan on board

SOMEWHERE in Metro Manila, a young Filipino is trapped inside a scam den, forced to lie to strangers online. Somewhere in Taipei, an elderly Taiwanese man is losing his life savings to a criminal syndicate that operates across countries. Traffickers are moving victims through airports and seaports faster than law enforcement can respond. The Philippines sits at the crossroads of these operations and has become both a battleground and a victim.

- By Wallace Minn-Gan Chow

These stories are not isolated tragedies. They are connected threads in a larger web of crime stretching across Southeast Asia. And there is a hole in that web: Taiwan is not part of the International Criminal Police Organization or Interpol.

This gap creates a systemic vulnerability that slows down investigations, delays the rescue of victims, gives criminals time to erase evidence, move money, or disappear entirely. Every hour lost is another life damaged.

Over the past decade, the Philippines has invested in modernizing its security and law-enforcement frameworks, from cybercrime legislation to anti-trafficking reforms, from AMLC enhancements to engagement in the Interpol cooperative mechanisms, yet it still faces severe challenges. This year’s Global Organized Crime Index ranks the country 33^rd in criminality and 114^th in resilience, in other words, the Philippines is among the highest ranked in the region for criminality and lower-ranked for resilience.