BIMP must fight Sayyaf – Duterte

DAVAO CITY – President Duterte has sought the help of the leaders of Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia to confront the threat posed by the Abu Sayyaf, which has been victimizing both foreigners and Filipinos.

The President issued the call during the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia and the Philippines (BIMP)-East ASEAN Growth Area leaders’ meeting, held on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit last Saturday.

“We have to do something about this now and I need your help,” Duterte told Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and Indonesian President Joko Widodo during the meeting.

The three were among those who attended the ASEAN Leaders’ Summit in Manila.

Duterte likewise told the three to let their naval officials and other authorities go after suspected Abu Sayyaf members, even if they are already in the Philippine territorial waters in a pursuit operation.

The three reportedly agreed to the President’s request and that they have vowed to come up with measures on how to go after the Abu Sayyaf.

The notorious group of bandits has been responsible for a series of abductions whose victims mostly had ended up beheaded.

The Abu Sayyaf bandits are also known to consider Sulu as their lair, although they have lately been reported to have also gone to the resort island of Bohol.

Mindanao-Indonesia sea route opened

In a positive development, Duterte and Widodo yesterday led the formal opening of the new sea route connecting Davao City and General Santos City in Mindanao and the port city of Bitung in North Sulawesi, Indonesia in an effort to boost trade, tourism and investments in the area.

The new shipping route is among the economic priority deliverables under the Philippines’ chairmanship of ASEAN.

“As we open this new maritime trade route, we reaffirm our ties with each other and commit ourselves to aspirations of the larger ASEAN Community,” Duterte said during the launch at Kudos Port in Sasa here.

Duterte and Widodo jointly banged the gongs as they also led guests in watching the maiden voyage of the vessel that would form part of the ASEAN roll-on, roll off (ro-ro) route leave Kudos port.

Welcomed by presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, Widodo and party arrived here at 9 a.m. yesterday and stayed for an hour before proceeding to Hong Kong.

“We have long wanted to establish this sea route and now it has become a reality,” Widodo said, stressing that Indonesia welcomes the new development with neighboring country, the Philippines.

“This route shall be the first of the many routes that will form the international ro-ro network envisioned by our fellow ASEAN leaders to provide greater accessibility and open more opportunities for our countries,” Duterte added.

The President said that this was exactly one of the most important commitments he forged with Widodo when he former visited Indonesia in September last year.

The ASEAN ro-ro shipping network will not only physically connect the Philippines with the rest of the ASEAN but it will also integrate the two archipelagos and provide faster and cheaper channel of trading goods among the EAGA.

Duterte said they are hopeful that by opening new ports and exploring possible new routes, trade, tourism and other areas of development among ASEAN member states will be stimulated further.

The route will significantly reduce the shipping time of transported goods from the usual five weeks to just two or three days, according to the President. He also noted that the lower logistical cost for transportation will drive competition, attract new players and increase the demand for jobs.

“This will not just strengthen intra-regional maritime connectivity among ASEAN members, but it will also introduce new opportunities for trade expansion with larger and emerging economies outside our region,” he said.

Duterte thanked Widodo and the Indonesian government, as well as the private sector, for their support to make the first ASEAN roll-on, roll-off route possible.

M/V Super Shuttle Ro-Ro 12, operated by the Asian Marine Transport Corp., will provide a weekly shipping service to the route with a vessel capacity of 500 Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs).

Security, piracy issues not expected

Philippine officials assured on Friday that security and piracy issues are not expected to emerge when the Davao City-General Santos-Bitung, Indonesia linkage route is launched.

Mindanao Development Authority deputy executive director Romeo Montenegro said that the opening of the new shipping route within the BIMP-EAGA is safe, as it is expected to further enhance trade between the Philippines and Indonesia.

He said issues had been addressed in past meetings between the Philippines and Indonesia and the same strategy is being looked at promoting connectivity involving the “more problematic Sulu Sea area.”

“But for Davao-Bitung we are not seeing any such issues, in terms of security or piracy, ever emerging out of this Celebes Sea,” Montenegro said in a press briefing at the ASEAN International Media Center.

While there are security issues covering Sulu Sea or the route through the strait between the Philippines and Malaysia, Montenegro said the Davao-General Santos-Bitung happens to be on the eastern part of Celebes Sea that has been a traditional trading route between the Philippines and Indonesia for centuries.

He noted that mechanisms were activated, including the Philippines and Indonesia border patrol “where the need to ensure security concerns is well covered.”

Arturo Boncato Jr., assistant secretary, Competitiveness and Ease of Doing Business Group (CEODBG) of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), said the new shipping route will make the unconventional route conventional.

He said the Philippine and Indonesian Coast Guard will be part of the effort when the new route is launched by escorting the vessels all the way to the border to Indonesia and will be received by the Indonesian Coast Guard.

“We are looking at a more permanent mechanism to be in place,” Boncato said.

The new route will open doors and link private sectors partners for opening the avenue of continued business and sustained business in the future.

“We are ready in all those aspects not only when it comes to security but when it comes to sustainability of commodities being shipped,” Boncato added. — Edith Regalado, Pia Lee-Brago