Warships from Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines held maneuvers on Monday near a naval base in northern Borneo to mark the launch of coordinated patrols to beef up security in waters plagued by insurgencies and banditry. Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said an agreement between the three countries aimed to stop piracy and kidnappings on the high seas in the South, particularly by Abu Sayyaf bandits. Hopefully, this will address the problem of our porous borders. We will have patrols to, first of all, prevent abductions on the high seas, and, more than that, [prevent] the movement of … fugitives from one country to another,” Padilla said.
Source: Inquirer net
