RP seeks to tighten border with Indonesia

RP seeks to tighten border with Indonesia

Agencies, Manila

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo pledged on Tuesday
to work more closely with Indonesia to police the two countries'
porous border, saying her government would make every effort to
rescue an Indonesian hostage.

"We are doing everything within our means to secure the safe
release of the remaining captive," Arroyo said in her opening
statement at a meeting with visiting Indonesian President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono as quoted by Reuters.

"We hope that we could take this opportunity to look at other
areas, where we can work together to prevent such incidents from
happening again."

Last week, Philippine security forces rescued two of three
Indonesian sailors held captive since March by Muslim militants
on the southwestern island of Jolo.

Arroyo said the kidnapping incident served as a lesson for the
two countries to cooperate on maritime border issues, such as
anti-terrorism, anti-piracy and transnational crime.

She said the two countries could do more by resolving a long-
standing border dispute and by securing a new fisheries
agreement.

"Our unique maritime context could work for or against us,"
she said. "It could keep us apart or bring us closer, depending
on how we deal with it."

Susilo, elected as president last September, did not issue any
comment on his meeting with Arroyo.

Analysts and security officials say Indonesian militants
belonging to the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) group have taken advantage
of the porous southern border to travel virtually unchecked
between Indonesia and the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.

JI is believed to have used Mindanao as a training base and a
refuge where it has forged informal alliances with Philippine
Muslim rebels.

The national police chiefs of the two countries met on Tuesday
to strengthen anti-terrorism cooperation, particularly in
tracking down two Indonesian militants suspected to be behind the
October 2002 attacks in Bali that killed 202 people.

Philippine military said Umar Patek and Dulmatin had been
hiding in Mindanao since 2003, coddled by a radical faction of
the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country's largest
Muslim rebel group.

MILF has denied links with JI, the alleged front of Osama bin
Laden's Al-Qaeda network that is seeking to create a Southeast
Asian Islamic state.

Indonesian national police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said he
has been given intelligence by Philippine police officials about
the recent sightings of the two top JI bombers.

"I don't know exactly how many people from Indonesia,
especially members of the JI, are here but I heard and I've
received information about that," Da'i told The Associated Press.
"We're looking for members of the JI who are still here."

The two forces would enhance existing bilateral cooperation
agreements for "preventing and suppressing terrorist activities,"
a Philippine police statement said.

They would coordinate the "apprehension as well as
interrogation of apprehended suspected criminals and terrorists,"
and share "technical and operational expertise."

The two police chiefs also agreed to a "regular exchange of
information and fugitives."

Arroyo also asked Susilo to support Manila's proposal to adopt
a more binding regional code of conduct in the South China Sea
among the six nations that claim ownership of the mineral-rich
Spratlys.

China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines
have claimed all or parts of the string of atolls and islets.