An eye on China? Indonesia, Philippines set to boost ties amid ‘very volatile’ regional geopolitics

Indonesia and the Philippines sign key agreements on defence and trade, agree on Asean being the ‘lead agent’ in regional changes

Analysts say Manila could share with Jakarta experience of dealing with Beijing in South China Sea, urges ‘uniformity in perspective’ on Taiwan Strait tensions

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Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr (left) with his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo during their meeting at the presidential palace in Bogor, Indonesia on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 8:30pm, 5 Sep 2022Updated: 8:45am, 6 Sep 2022

The Philippines and Indonesia would bolster their defence and security ties amid the region’s “very volatile” geopolitical dynamics, the two countries’ leaders said on Monday, emphasising the need for “inclusive and concrete” cooperation.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr is on a two-day visit to Indonesia from Sunday at the invitation of his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo. The trip is the Philippine leader’s first state visit since his landslide election victory in May.

An Indonesia analyst said the joint statement by the two leaders, while substantive on areas of planned cooperation, seemed to omit a key matter: whether they would work in tandem to deal with an increasingly assertive China.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr (second from left), accompanied by his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo (left) inspects an honour guard at the presidential palace in Bogor, Indonesia on Monday. Photo: Pool via AFP

During Monday’s talks, the leaders witnessed the signing of several key deals, including a renewal of the 1997 Agreement on Cooperative Activities in the Field of Defence and Security, and the Philippines-Indonesia Plan of Action which seeks to bolster economic ties in areas such as agriculture and energy for the next five years.

Jakarta and Manila also renewed their trilateral cooperative arrangement with Kuala Lumpur, a “very important” cooperation “in securing the waterways from the threat of hostage-taking and kidnapping”, Widodo said on Monday.

Indonesian government data showed some 44 Indonesians were kidnapped and held hostage by Abu Sayyaf militants in the Philippines between 2016 and 2019. Of these, one hostage died while the others were freed. Most were migrant workers abducted off Sabah on Malaysia’s eastern coast.

“We also spoke at length about the role that we believe Asean should play while we face difficulties, this very volatile time in geopolitics, not only in our region, but also in the rest of the world,” Marcos said, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations regional bloc.

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