Duterte and Widodo aim to strengthen ties between both countries to maintain maritime security in the Malacca Strait.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo signed the “Declaration on the Cooperation to Ensure Maritime Security” at the State Palace of Indonesia.
The truce aims to strengthen the cooperation between Indonesia and Philippines in maintaining maritime security on the seas in between the two countries , particularly the Malacca Strait.
Duterte previously said that he would let Indonesian police to chase and even bomb the pirates’ ship even when they have already entered the territorial waters of the Philippines.
Duterte expressed in their joint statement with Widodo that maritime cooperation is of high importance especially that the Philippines and Indonesia are two of the largest archipelagos in the world.
The president said that his meeting with Widodo can be considered as “victorious and productive” where different bilateral cooperations were discussed.
Meanwhile, Duterte thanked Widodo and the rest of the Indonesian community for his warm welcome and he assured that the good relationship between the two countries to continue.
“We agreed on the effective implementation for the framework to address security issues”, said Duterte.