Tawi-Tawi hosts naval officers from Malaysia, Indonesia

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Updated 9:47 a.m.) —  Residents of Tawi-Tawi are optimistic a visit by Malaysian and Indonesian naval officers will improve trade by increasing security in the area and in nearby waters.

Representatives from the Royal Malaysian Navy and Tentara Nacional Indonesia are in Tawi-Tawi from November 13 to 15 as part of the Trilateral Cooperative Agreement, or TRICA, among the two countries and the Philippines.

The Malaysian and Indonesian sailors were welcomed by personnel of Joint Task Force Tawi-Tawi, which is commanded by Brig. Gen. Custodio Parcon Jr. "Indonesian and Malaysian navy forces are here as part of our Trilateral Cooperative Agreement with Malaysia and Indonesia, and there will be a series of engagements during their three-day port visit to equip and acquaint our delegates," Parcon said.

The Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia formally agreed in June to work together to improve security in each other’s contiguous territorial waters with joint operations and intelligence sharing.

In separate statements Tuesday, Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez, Jr. of the Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command and Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao thanked the people of Tawi-Tawi for their cordial reception of the Malaysian and Indonesian naval contingents.

The naval representatives arrived at the Juan Magluyan Naval Station in Barangay Batu-Batu in Panglima Sugala island town in Tawi-Tawi on Monday morning, Galvez said.

Tawi-Tawi Gov. Rashidin Matba and Panglima Sugala Mayor Rejie Sahali-Generale led the welcome ceremony for the foreign visitors.

Tawi-Tawi is a component province of ARMM, which also covers Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur in mainland Mindanao and the islands of Sulu and Basilan.

While Tawi-Tawi is known as ARMM’s most peaceful province, its economy has suffered because of criminal activities of the Sulu-based Abu Sayyaf group along the sea border of Malaysia and Philippines.

The Abu Sayyaf group and its affiliates have taken close to 60 hostages in the past two years. According to the military, the Abu Sayyaf still holds 16 hostages — five Indonesians, a Vietnamese, a Dutch national and nine Filipinos — in the hinterlands of Sulu.

Galvez said the three-day visit to Tawi-Tawi will help assure the public that the agreement will benefit residents in the waters covered by the agreement.

“Their visit is aimed at strengthening maritime security operations to curtail piracy and other crimes perpetrated by extremists through a limited trilateral patrol with Malaysian and Indonesian navy forces,” Galvez said.  

He said the agreement will help curb smuggling, human trafficking, the transshipment of drugs, piracy and kidnapping in the area.

"Surely, the commercial shipping corridors will be secured," he said.

Tawi-Tawi ready to host more TRICA visits

Sahali-Generale, now on her second term as mayor of Panglima Sugala, said on Wednesday that she and her constituents hope the visit will help improve Tawi-Tawi’s business climate.

Tawi-Tawi, also known as the country’s “southern front door,” is a major entry and exit point for Filipinos working in Malaysia.

Matba, a first-termer governor, said the province is ready to host more visits of military officials from the two countries.

He said Tawi-Tawi had been trading with the people of Malaysia and Indonesia even before the Philippines became a sovereign state.

Matba said he is certain Tawi-Tawi’s economy will grow because of the security agreement and with the continuing implementation by the ARMM regional government of high-ticket infrastructure projects in island towns in the province.

The executive department of ARMM has spent some P5 billion for various infrastructure projects in Tawi-Tawi, among them seaports and concrete roads, in the past five years.

Matba said Tawi-Tawi is a safe destination for investors because of to the protection and socio-economic interventions from the ARMM government, the WestMinCom and the Philippine National Police.

Sahali-Generale, now in her second term as mayor of Panglima Sugala, said on Wednesday that she and her constituents hope the visit will help improve Tawi-Tawi’s business climate.

Tawi-Tawi, also known as the country’s “southern front door,” is a major entry and exit point for Filipinos working in Malaysia.