Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines launch joint sea patrols

Southeast Asian neighbours Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines launched coordinated maritime patrols on Monday to intensify their fight against Islamic militants who have laid siege to a southern Philippine city.

Defence ministers and military chiefs from the three countries launched the patrols in the Indonesian city of Tarakan in northern Borneo, just across the border from Sabah, Malaysia.

Indonesia’s military chief, General Gatot Nurmantyo, said Maritime Command Centres were also opened in the cities of Tawau in Malaysia and Bongao in the Philippines.

The information and intelligence sharing centres establish designated sea lanes for ships in the seas along the countries’ borders to prevent Islamic State group-aligned militants in the southern Philippines from fleeing to neighbouring nations. The conflict in the Philippine city of Marawi has raised fears that the IS group’s violent ideology is gaining a foothold in the country’s restive south, where Muslim separatists have fought for greater autonomy for decades. He said the idea of the trilateral maritime patrols was initiated by the countries last year to maintain stability in the region in the face of threats such as piracy, kidnapping, terrorism and other crimes in regional waters.

“This trilateral co-operation is needed to anticipate infiltration possibility of IS-aligned militants from Marawi disguised as refugees.”

Philippine military spokesperson BrigadierGeneral Restituto Padilla said the co-ordinated patrols aim to tighten protection along porous borders and prevent abductions at high seas. They will also help prevent the movement of fugitives seeking haven in a different country or planning to provide assistance to jihadists, he said. “The enemy we face right now is a different breed, and with the presence of foreign fighters in the area — a matter that we are trying to validate and prove based on whatever we recover from the field — is part of that continuing concern,” he said.