Palace: Joint patrols by 3 nations to boost anti-terror initiatives

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

The fight against the growing threat of extremism in the region continued to get a boost as the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia join together in conducting air patrols, a Palace official said Saturday.

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said that the coordinated joint air patrols, which were launched in Malaysia on Friday, was a move to “better counter the movement of terrorist groups and to strengthen the security of our three nations and that of the region.”

The patrols are in addition to the joint naval patrol and maritime monitoring that kicked off in June. This aims to monitor suspicious movements in the Sulu Sea, which is an area known to be the usual route of terrorists.

“By sharing information and exchanging best practices, we hope to improve the interoperability of our forces and help better secure areas of common maritime interest,” Abella said.

Fears of extremism in the region have grown as Islamic State forces attempted to establish own territory in Marawi City, the southern part of the Philippines. /jpv

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