PH, 2 other countries agree to boost maritime security after kidnappings

The Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia agreed yesterday to run coordinated patrols to boost maritime security following the kidnappings at sea of Indonesians by suspected Abu Sayyaf militants.

Foreign ministers and military chiefs of the three countries held talks in Indonesia’s ancient royal capital city of Yogyakarta, hashing out the details of joint patrols to protect shipping in the waters between their border areas.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the threat from robbery, kidnapping and other transnational crimes, if not addressed appropriately, can undermine the confidence in trade and commerce, which in turn can adversely affect the economic activities and welfare of peoples in the surrounding areas.

She said the area between Zulu islands in southern Philippines and Indonesia’s Sulawesi island is a strategic economic waterway where over 55 million metric tons of crude and over 18 million people pass through.

Abu Sayyaf militants on Sunday freed 10 of 14 Indonesian crewmen who were seized at sea in March in the first of three attacks on tugboats that have sparked a regional maritime security alarm. In April, the militants beheaded Canadian John Ridsdel after failing to get P300 million as ransom.

Philippine troops launched an offensive against the Abu Sayyaf after the beheading, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has vowed to help the Philippines bring the killers to justice.

“We will undertake a coordinated patrol in the maritime areas of our common concern,” Marsudi told a news conference after the meeting that was attended by her counterparts Anifah Aman from Malaysia and Jose Rene Almendras from Philippines and military chiefs from the three countries.