By Celeste Ann R. Formoso, PNA and U.S. News Agency / Asian

A top ranking police officer here is seeking the help of legal experts in training policemen belonging to the City Police Office (CPO) on the technical aspects of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 recently signed into law by President Benigno S. Aquino III.

Police Col. Abad Osit, CPO director here, said there is no problem in implementing the Cybercrime Prevention Act, also known as Republic Act 10175, but his policemen have to be guided about its technical and procedural aspects to avoid possible breakdowns due to unawareness.

Osit said that although the use of the Internet is widespread in Puerto Princesa, and that cyber cafes are a dime a dozen, many policemen are still not familiar about the use of the World Wide Web (www).

As of press time, the topmost ranking city police officer has not received a copy of the implementing rules and regulation of the Act. Once his office obtains a copy, he said a seminar-workshop for all policemen in the city will be convened.

The ACT covers that the government should formulate the IRR within 90 days of approval of the law. The agencies that have been tasked to originate the implementing rules and regulations are the Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Information and Communications Technology Office under the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

In related news, the CPO has now been making coordination meetings with the owners of Internet shops and cyber-related businesses for the smooth implementation of the Act.

“As early as after the President passed the law, we already made coordination activities with the owners of cyber businesses so that when this law is implemented, they will conform,” he said.

The Cybercrime Prevention Act delivers and outlines the legal basis “for safeguarding basic freedoms of Internet users from abuse.