Department of National Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and
his Malaysian and Indonesian counterparts agreed to cooperate further in
curbing down criminality, piracy, kidnapping and smuggling in the Sulu Sea border area of the three countries.
Gazmin, Malaysian Defense Minister Hashimudin Hussein and
Indonesian Defese Minister Riyamizard Ryacudu made this commitment during the
sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting in Vientiane, Laos last May
26.
All three officials agreed to ensure timely sharing of
relevant information and to this end direct their respective intelligence units
to be more open in sharing databases of criminals.
They also agreed to use existing platforms in undertaking
joint patrols. The Philippines
regularly conducts coordinated patrols with Indonesia
while the Philippines has
anti-smuggling agreement with Malaysia
The idea of coordinated patrol is in accordance with the
Joint Declaration on Immediate Measures in the Maritime Areas of Common Concern
which was signed by the three countries' foreign ministers and chiefs of
defense forces last May 5.
A framework and subsequently a standard operating procedure
are currently being crafted among our respective technical level officers.
The ministers also agreed to pursue joint training, with
Indonesia proposing to have joint exercises at least twice a year although
Gazmin reminded the two other ministers that since the Philippine does not have
a status of visiting forces agreement with either Indonesia and Malaysia, the
Philippines could only conduct exercises with them in the high seas and not
within its territorial waters.
To sustain high-level ministerial dialogue regarding this
matter, the three ministers agreed to once more have a trilateral meeting this
coming June, with Manila
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=889920
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