Rody expected to discuss security issue with Widodo

MANILA, Philippines -  President Duterte was expected to discuss security issues with Indonesia President Joko Widodo yesterday as fighting between government troops and militants in Marawi City dragged on to its fifth week.

Duterte told reporters in Cagayan de Oro he would ask Widodo about the Indonesian fighters who fought alongside the Maute group, a band of terrorists aligned with the extremist Middle East-based Islamic State (IS).

“I think most of the foreign fighters were Indonesians,” he added. Duterte’s spokesman Ernesto Abella could not elaborate on the discussion between the two leaders.

“I’m sure they’ll be talking security matters, but we don’t have the details of the plans for that conversation,” Abella said in a press briefing yesterday.

Duterte earlier said he was disappointed that Maranaos allowed IS fighters to enter Marawi City to introduce their extremist ideology.

“My greatest resentment towards Maranao is they allowed the entry of the ISIS. Maute started as a thriving business of shabu and they have been selling shabu all over Mindanao and the Visayas,” the President said.

Details of the conversation between Duterte and Widodo were not yet available as of press time.

Last month, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said eight foreign jihadists were killed in separate clashes between government troops and Maute militants in Marawi City. Of the slain foreign fighters, two were Saudis, two were Malaysians, two were Indonesians, one was a Yemeni and another was a Chechen.

During the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore this month, Indonesian defense minister Ryamizard Ryacudu revealed that there were about 1,200 IS members operating in the Philippines. The Philippine military has not verified the information.

The conversation between Duterte and Widodo came two days after the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia launched joint border patrols to strengthen the drive against terrorism, piracy and other transitional crimes.  

Ministers’ meet

The Philippines’ and Indonesia’s foreign affairs chiefs as well as intelligence and security officials are set to meet in Manila today to discuss plans for intensified trilateral cooperation to prevent extremists from establishing operational bases in the Southeast Asian region.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano announced yesterday the meeting as the three Southeast Asian neighbors began intensifying defense and intelligence collaboration in the wake of the recent attack of the IS-affiliated Maute group in Marawi City.

“The aim is to make a team effort, rather than each country fending off extremism by itself,” Cayetano said.

On Monday, the three countries launched joint maritime operations in Tarakan, North Kalimantan, Indonesia, just across the border from Sabah, Malaysia.

The joint operations were meant to fight transnational crimes and terrorism in the Sulu Sea.

Marawi is 750 km northeast of Tarakan in Indonesia’s North Kalimantan province. –  With  Pia Lee-Brago