“Although an agreement has been signed by the three countries, we’re still mulling over a code of conduct and it cannot be composed in a hurry because it is related to laws existing in each of our countries,” Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto told journalists on Wednesday.

The minister said the code of conduct being drafted by the government would detail coordinated patrols through which the three countries would bolster security on their maritime borders, which have been prone to incidents of piracy and kidnapping in recent months.

The government is also working on a code of conduct to strengthen joint efforts to secure the release of hostages abducted by militant groups in the southern Philippines, he added.

Signed in August by the Indonesian, Philippine and Malaysian defense ministers, the trilateral maritime agreement lays a foundation for the three countries to hunt pirates in Philippine waters. Wiranto said the details were being deliberated so that the coordination would not contravene the laws of each country.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte gave the go-ahead for Indonesia to pursue pirates into Philippine waters during his meeting with President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo in Jakarta last Friday. Commenting on whether Indonesian forces were allowed to enter the country’s waters in pursuit of pirates, Duterte said: "They can go ahead and blast them away." (ebf)

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