TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Military commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo said that he would soon meet the Philippine and Malaysian military commanders to discuss security issues in border areas of the three countries. The meeting was initiated following numerous piracy cases in Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippine waters.

Gatot said that he would propose joint-patrol conducted by the three countries.

“We will guard each other’s ships until the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) border,” Gatot said at the Army’s Special Forces (Kopassus) headquarter in Jakarta on Saturday, April 16, 2016.

Gatot added that the cooperation would involve warships patrolling in each country’s border. However, when a crime took place in Malaysian or Philippine waters, Gatot would offer assistance after obtaining permits to cross the border.

Gatot believes that the cooperation initiative would make Indonesian, Malaysia and Philippine borders safer.

Over the last three weeks, two incidents of ship highjacks occurred. The first incident involved two ships and ten crews when crossing the Philippine waters in late March. Philippine militant group Abu Sayyaf held the ten crews as hostages and demanded a ransom of 50 million pesos.

The second incident took place on Friday, March 15, 2016. Six crews escaped from a hijacking situation, although one of them was shot. However, four others were taken as hostages. Gatot suspected that the second hijack was also initiated by Abu Sayyaf’s group.

AHMAD FAIZ