Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Tuesday said plans are now afoot to increase maritime patrols in the tri-border areas of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
Lorenzana made this statement when asked for details of his meeting with other members of the Trilateral Cooperative Arrangement (TCA) last March 28.
Speaking on the sidelines of the rites for this year’s Philippine Veterans Week at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, Lorenzana said they are looking to deploy more fast ships and reconnaissance aircraft to patrol the tri-boundary areas as the strategy is working against terrorist and criminal groups operating in the area.
“It has been more than two years already at there is not much kidnapping and it is very good, (this means) our tactic or strategy is working, so ngayon ang gusto, paigtingin pa namin yan (so what we want is to intensify further),” the DND chief said during the sidelines of the rites for this year’s Philippine Veterans Week at the Libingan ng Mga Bayani.
Lorenzana said that they are looking at the possibility of 24-hour patrols to ensure that the terrorist groups or religious extremists operating in the tri-boundary area of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines will not be able to move or carry out their attacks.
Lorenzana, Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto held a ministerial meeting on the TCA in Kuala Lumpur.
“To further strengthen the security of Sulu and Sulawesi Seas, we agreed to develop the TCA beyond the current security landscape through multiagency combination and enhance intelligence in surveillance operations,” he said in a previous Facebook post.
Lorenzana said all parties have agreed to institutionalize TCA yearly, increase monitoring of seas, and explore the possibility of joint training on land.
“Since the signing of the TCA in 2017, the conduct of joint patrols and sharing of intelligence resulted in zero incidences of kidnapping for ransom which used to be very rampant in the Sulu and Sulawesi Seas,” he added. (PNA)
