Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s Visit to Indonesia

Good morning Professor and classmates,

today I will be talking about Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s visit

to Indonesia last Friday, September 9th.

Before I delve into it,

I would like to give a brief overview of my presentation today. 

I will be giving a background on the Indonesia-Philippines relations,

the agreements made in the visit,

and other issues

such as the threat of the Abu Sayyaf Group

and the pending Mary Jane Veloso case

and the agreements made in relation to these issues.

Here is a photograph of Duterte’s first state visit

as head of state to Indonesia,

where he met with Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (on the right) 

last Friday, September 9th

at the Presidential Palace

in Jakarta.

As a brief background, here’s a fun fact:

Indonesia, with over 250 million people,

is the 4th most populous country in the world

and is the country with the world’s largest Muslim population.

Historically, the two countries have had friendly relations,

so it comes as no surprise that

Indonesia is one of the Philippine President’s first foreign trips.

The two leaders also share similar national issues,

including a war against drugs

that both countries are waging domestically.

In detail, Indonesia penalizes drug trafficking with death,

while more than 1,000 drug suspects have been killed 

since Duterte took over on June 30th.

As for the agreements made,

the two leaders signed an agreement

to strengthen cooperation on maritime security in the Sulu Sea

separating the two archipelagoes.

Duterte said he supported allowing Indonesian forces

pursuing suspected pirates to enter Philippine waters,

but, for now, coordination would be the priority.

He even said that if Indonesian forces

were in hot pursuit of pirates,

they could enter Philippine waters and “blast them off.”

As for another agreement,

the two countries,

along with Malaysia,

have been shaping plans for joint patrols

and discussing ways to enable pursuits into each other’s territorial waters

in a bid to stop a surge in piracy and abductions this year.

And, any of you could just imagine

that the combination of these three great forces

would most definitely expedite the pursuits.

As for another issue,

the Islamist militant group Abu Sayyaf

in the southern Philippines has been particularly active,

kidnapping Indonesian sailors and other targets

and demanding large ransom payments

to help fund its campaign against the Philippine government.

In recent months,

the group has executed two Canadian hostages

and is holding a Norwegian citizen.

Duterte has taken a hard line against Abu Sayyaf,

which, if any of you didn’t already know,

has declared loyalty to Islamic State