QUEZON CITY, Philippines – The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) called for the strengthening of border security in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to prevent transnational crimes, as well as terrorism, in the region.
In a statement, the new AFP chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Rey Leonardo Guerrero, stressed the need to enhance regional border security through coordinated border patrols.
Guerrero said that he is eyeing more coordinated patrols with ASEAN countries to prevent the use of the common maritime borders for illegal activities.
He hopes that the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia will have tighter security because of the Trilateral Cooperation Arrangement which was signed this June. This agreement’s objectives include stopping transnational crimes usually committed in the ASEAN region’s borders such as kidnapping, trafficking and the transit of terrorists in the Sulu Sea.
“We will also increase the frequency of our coordinated patrols with our Asean counterparts in order to prevent the use of our common maritime borders for illegal activities,” Guerrero said in a statement.
Guerrero also hoped to have a credible defense force with strengthened naval and air capabilities for more effective monitoring and control of sea lanes and air space.
“For this, we will reinforce our Maritime Domain awareness on our maritime areas of interest, particularly our sea lanes of communications. We will also push through with our capability build-up in order to enhance our maritime operations capability,” Lt. Gen. Guerrero added.