The fisherman, Muhammad Farhan, 24, was rescued in Bato-Bato, Indanan municipality, on the Philippines’ southern island of Jolo at 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

He was one of three Indonesians kidnapped in the waters off of Tambisan Island, Lahad Datu, Malaysia, on Sept. 23. The two other hostages, Maharudin, who is Farhan’s father, and Samiun were rescued in December and have already been reunited with their families.

All three fishermen are from Buton, an island located 1,300 kilometers from Sabah, off the southeastern peninsula of Sulawesi.

“The Indonesian government appreciates all the efforts by the Philippine authorities, including Division 11 of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Sulu, for its efforts to rescue the Indonesian hostages,” the ministry said in a press statement.

The Philippine authorities are to soon hand Farhan to the Indonesian Embassy in Manila, which is to then send him home to Indonesia.

The Philippine authorities said Farhan lost his way and ended up back in the hands of his kidnappers after the Philippine troops had a fierce firefight with the bandits last December, during which the two other Indonesian hostages were able to escape and were rescued by the security forces, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

In December, the Foreign Ministry said that in the efforts to rescue the first two fishermen, Indonesia undertook diplomatic measures at all levels, including communications between President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his Philippine counterpart, Rodrigo Duterte, and coordination between Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi and Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.

With the rescue of Farhan, all of the Indonesian hostages held by Abu Sayyaf have been brought to safety.

In her annual speech at the beginning of this year, Retno said that in the past five years, the government had rescued 45 hostages before Farhan — mostly in Sulu and its nearby waters.

“In the future, it is important for Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia to strengthen preventive actions. The trilateral cooperation, security in the Sulu Sea and the surrounding area, must be strengthened,” Retno said.

As most of the kidnapping incidents happen at sea and involve fishermen or sailors, analysts urged Indonesia to explore more options to collaborate with its ASEAN neighbors beyond the existing trilateral sea patrols in Sulu.

“The regular sea patrols still need to be performed, but a more intense collaboration is required, especially related to maritime intelligence and counterterrorism,” Jakarta-based security and intelligence analyst Stanislaus
Riyanta said.

“Most importantly, it would be good if the countries in the region could share a database on terrorism. A comprehensive database would be effective to support future collaborations in counterterrorism.”

Philippine security authorities, meanwhile, will continue operations in Sulu which they described as “a remarkable accomplishment”.

“This proves that our sustained rescue efforts and security operations to run down and degrade ASG [Abu Sayyaf group] have been very effective. Hence, this breakthrough will be sustained to thwart kidnappings and dismantle the terror group to bring about peace and sustainable development in Sulu,” Chief Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana was quoted by the Inquirer as saying.

Abu Sayyaf is notorious for its kidnap-for-ransom activities in Sulu and its nearby waters. Most of its factions have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. The military is also going after two top Abu Sayyaf leaders — Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan and Radulan Sahiron — according to the Inquirer.

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