Enhanced PH-Indonesia ties

Indonesia is one our closest neighbors to the south. We’re bound not only by geographical location but also by historical and cultural ties. They were colonized by the Dutch, we by the Spaniards. We also share a common racial stock.

All this makes our two countries naturally gravitate to one another, as demonstrated by the recent visit to our shores by Indonesian President Jokowi Widodo.

This visit yielded agreement on several issues, including dealing with the maritime tension in the South China Sea and enhancing cooperation among the10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

The Philippines and Indonesia are founding members of the regional bloc.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said after the visit that he and Widodo had a “fruitful and honest discussion” on issues of mutual interest in the Asia-Pacific region.

“As neighbors, we must remain united in addressing the many challenges that our region now faces,” Mr. Marcos said.

They both “affirmed our insistence on the universality of Unclos (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), which lays down the legal framework that governs all activities in the world’s oceans.”

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said they are ready to work with other Southeast Asian nations to finalize a long-delayed Code of Conduct for the South China Sea, where many of its neighbors have overlapping claims with China.

Asean and China have been trying to negotiate a Code of Conduct, a plan dating as far back as 2002.

The two leaders also agreed to strengthen defense cooperation and to enforce existing agreements on border cooperation, such as joint patrols and crossings.

During the bilateral meeting, Presidents Marcos and Widodo also discussed

our proposal to buy antisubmarine aircraft from Indonesia to strengthen the capability of the Philippine Navy to patrol our Exclusive Economic Zone in the West Philippine Sea.

Regarding economic cooperation between Jakarta and Manila, Widodo assured Marcos that Indonesia remained “committed to keep market access open for Philippines’ agriculture commodities.”

Apart from these, the two leaders also witnessed the signing of a

memorandum of understanding to strengthen energy cooperation between the two countries amid supply constraints on energy commodities, such as coal and liquefied natural gas.

This MOU would push collaboration on energy transition, renewable energy, electric vehicles, and alternative fuels.

In three days of the Indonesian president’s visit to Manila, what has been achieved is a strengthening of bilateral relations that augurs well for even deeper economic and defense cooperation for mutual benefit in the years ahead.

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.