Manila wants talks on Sulu Sea patrols

LANGKAWI: The Philippines wants more discussions on Sulu Sea joint patrols with its Asean defence counterparts.

Its Navy flag-officer-in-command Vice-Admiral Ronald Joseph Mercado, who is here for the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (Lima 2017), spoke of the need for such talks with Asean members, including Malaysia and Indonesia, to beef up security in the Sulu Sea.

Maritime security was one of the issues focussed on by the Philippines, which assumed the Asean chair in January, he said.

“My agenda in this Lima is to be able to talk to my Malaysian counterpart on the plans we will undertake.

“There are many things to undertake in the trilateral agreement to address some of the issues at the Sulu Sea patrols,” he told reporters in Resorts World Langkawi yesterday.

Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia have come to an agreement to patrol problematic areas and counter the militant group Abu Sayyaf.

Mercado also said that the Philippines had deployed its latest frigate to Lima 2017.

This was an opportunity to widen its knowledge on maritime technologies and strengthen unity among the Asean naval community, he added.