SECURITY forces have launched massive search and rescue operations in Western Mindanao for 10 Indonesian sailors kidnapped and held hostage by suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits near Tawi-Tawi.
Indonesia is preparing to send its own security personnel to help their Filipino counterparts find the kidnapped sailors, who were taken Saturday while transporting 7,000 tons of coal to Batangas.
But Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said the Constitution does not allow foreign troops on its soil without a treaty.
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The tugboat used by the 10 Indonesians to pull a barge full of coal was found empty by a civilian mariner near Languyan, Tawi-Tawi, Sunday morning.
Reports said the armed group aboard a three-engine motor boat intercepted the tugboat at gunpoint Saturday evening in Taw-Tawi.
Padilla said the military viewed the kidnapping as a diversionary tactic to ease military pressure on them.
In last quarter of 2015, the government launched massive operations against the ASG and other terrorist groups in Mindanao with the bandit groups suffering a series of defeats in skirmishes that resulted in several dozen deaths.
Indonesian Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said Tuesday the problem of piracy and illegal fishing could be controlled if Indonesia and the Philippines carried out joint maritime patrols, but said these have yet to materialize.
He said several countries have already established joint maritime patrols, and cited the example of Japan and China, which carry out joint patrolling with the United States and Malaysia, respectively.
Such joint patrols will help secure Indonesian waters along the border and ensure proper monitoring, he said.
Earlier, the Indonesian nilitary expressed its readiness to help the Philippines in tackling pirates like those who hijacked an Indonesian vessel and its crew.
“If the Philippines asks for Indonesian assistance, we are ready to help them out,” the Defense minister said.
The minister remarked that a military patrol boat had been prepared in anticipation of such accidents.
However, he noted, the military cannot carry out any operations in the Philippines without the permission of the authorities there.
He said the hijacking of the Indonesian vessel was different from the sea piracy rampant in Somalia.
The minister coordinated with Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin.
“Indonesia continues to monitor the hostage situation,” the minister said.
According to reports in the national media, the Indonesian Embassy in Manila has confirmed that an Indonesian vessel has been hijacked in the Philippines and 10 Indonesian crewmen were being held hostage.
Embassy spokesperson Basriana could not confirm whether the militants of Abu Sayyaf, a group of Islamic extremists, were involved in the incident.
The embassy is still coordinating with the Indonesian Consulate General in Davao and with other relevant authorities in the Philippines to gather more information about the situation. With PNA