Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia push for action plan to fight terrorism

June 22, 2017

The Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia agreed on Thursday for a proposed "plan of action" to address the threat of terrorism and violent extremism in the region. "Concern over the recent incidents of terrorism and violent extremism in their countries," the foreign ministers and top security and intelligence officials of the three countries held a trilateral meeting in Pasay City. In the joint statement after a three-hour closed door meeting and read by Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, they reaffirmed their desire to work together to jointly develop and implement counter-terrorism measures and strategies. Included in the proposed plan of action were to stop the flow of terrorist financing; contain the spread of terrorism and terrorism-related content in the cyberspace, particularly in social media; and prevent and suppress the terrorist exploitation of information and communication technology and the dissemination of terrorist messages. They also agreed to enhance intelligence and information sharing amongst all security and intelligence agencies on potential, imminent and real threats; prevent and stop the flow of illicit arms and arms smuggling as well as the movement of all terrorists; consider the provision of specialized military and law enforcement training; and support the Trilateral Cooperative Arrangement and other sub-regional efforts to combat transnational crime. Cayetano said they agreed that combating terrorism would not only entail military action. He said the three countries would counter the extremist narrative through education, community engagement including the involvement of religious leaders and the promotion of tolerance, moderation and unity in diversity; explore initiatives to provide support for victims of terrorism; promote deradicalization, rehabilitation and reintegration programs as part of comprehensive measures in countering terrorism; and protect and safeguard vulnerable groups, particularly women, children and the youth, from the influence of terrorism. He said they also agreed to enhance effort and cooperation in addressing the root causes and underlying conditions of extremism including but not limited to poverty, narcotics or illegal drugs, crime and social injustice; promote social and economic development particularly in adjoining areas of the three countries. They also agreed to review and implement all of the existing agreements on terrorism and violent extremism; and make a cross-analysis comparison of each other’s laws on terrorism with a view to enhancing legislation. The next meeting will be held in Indonesia in October. Cayetano told reporters after the meeting they hope to engage the entire ASEAN in the effort. "We agreed to report in the Foreign Ministers' Meeting in ASEAN," he said. He said the trilateral meeting was initiated as "an immediate response by Malaysia and Indonesia as seeing that the problem in Marawi and the rest of Mindanao can cause instability in the whole region." Cayetano also expressed hope that the two countries, which are both Muslim-dominated, could help in "deradicalizing" the Muslim Filipinos who felt that they are being marginalized by the Christians, who are dominant in the Philippines. Malaysian Foreign Dato' Sri Anifah Aman noted that in the past, terrorists maintain a sense of self-preservation. Unlike today, he said, "it is far more difficult to stop people who are willing to die." He added technology has enabled terrorism to spread their message faster and more promptly than ever before and "they have probably be experts in using social media to recruit followers in foreign countries." Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi acknowledged the "threat that we are facing is imminent. "No action is not an option. Thus, it is incumbent upon us to embark on taking concrete actions," she added. Indonesia initiated the trilateral meeting. (Celerina Monte/DMS)