Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said Manila had given the green light to Indonesian Military (TNI) vessels guarding Indonesian barges until they reached Philippine waters, from where an Armed Forces of the Philippines vessel would escort them to their destination and back into Indonesian waters.

"There is no problem with the Philippines; we can enter its territory after reporting how many vessels and the number of personnel guarding them," Ryamizard said on Monday.

Once in the Philippine’s territory, the Philippine armed forces would become the head of the operation, and Indonesia would follow their commands, Ryamizard said, making assurances that the two parties had reached full understanding and there would not be any problems.

The minister is scheduled to meet his Philippine counterpart Delfin Lorenzana to further discuss the mechanism of the security operation ahead of its implementation on Thursday in Kuala Lumpur, where Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammudin Hussein will join them for a trilateral meeting aimed at stepping up security in the regional waters.

Ryamizard asserted that during the meeting, the three countries would finalize the mechanism of the joint Navy exercises that will precede the implementation of the joint sea patrols, as a follow-up of the trilateral maritime security agreement signed in May.

The implementation of joint patrols will be accelerated, following the abduction of three Indonesian sailors in Malaysia’s Sabah waters in early July, less than a month after the kidnapping of seven Indonesian ship crew members by Philippine militant groups in southern Philippine waters. (dan)

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