US, Philippines Navy Ships Patrol Sulu Sea

MANILA —
The United States and Philippine navies held a joint naval patrol Saturday in dangerous southern Philippine waters, amid rising international concern about Islamist militancy and piracy in the region.

U.S. Navy combat ship USS Coronado joined a Philippine Navy frigate, BRP Alcaraz, in patrolling the Sulu Sea, where numerous pirate attacks on commercial shipping have been made since 2015.

“Our at-sea operations with the Philippine Navy demonstrate our commitment to the alliance and deter piracy and illegal activities,” U.S. Rear Admiral Don Gabrielson said in a statement issued by the U.S. embassy in Manila.

There are international fears that fighters sympathetic to Islamic State will cross maritime borders between Malaysia and Indonesia to join Muslim rebels who seized Marawi City in the southern Philippines five weeks ago.

About 300 militants, 82 security forces and 44 civilians have been killed in the fighting.

The naval patrols were held at the invitation of the Philippine government, the U.S. embassy said.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte does not allow joint patrols with the United States in the disputed South China Sea to avoid damaging its relations with China, which claims the sea as its own.

But he welcomes cooperation in the south because of increased militant activity. Two weeks ago, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines held joint naval patrols in southern waters.

https://www.voanews.com/a/us-philipp...a/3924116.html

On July 1, the U.S. Navy announced that the United States and the Philippines had completed a coordinated patrol in the Sulu Sea – the first publicly announced activity of its kind since Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte came to office last June. The interaction highlights the continuing cooperation between the two longtime treaty allies despite the challenges the relationship has faced thus far under Duterte.

The focus on the Sulu Sea, and U.S.-Philippine activity in the area, are both not really new. As I have noted previously, the one million square kilometer tri-border area in the Sulu-Sulawesi Seas between the southern Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia is notorious for its porous borders and decades of weak governance, which has unsurprisingly made it ridden with conflict, crime, and poverty, making it a hub for transnational organized crime.

Indeed, just last month, after much anticipation and several delays, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines finally jointly and publicly launched Trilateral Maritime Patrol (TMP) “Indomalphi” in Tarakan, Indonesia, the latest sign of progress for the indigenous minilateral initiative

U.S-Philippine cooperation in the Sulu Sea is not really new either. Last year, in the midst of the Shangri-La Dialogue and in between the bilateral phases of the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercises that Washington does with the Malaysian and Philippine militaries, the U.S., Philippine, and Malaysian navies conducted a coordinated multilateral training activity in the Sulu Sea. As I noted then, the move reflected the U.S. view that the Sulu Sea is one promising avenue through which Washington can pursue multilateralization with ASEAN partners

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGyGKTkqQeA

Should have been done ages ago.
They are patrolling the area a little bit late. The foreign militants have arrived via that route months ago.

Still, its better than none I suppose. Makes it difficult for foreign militant reinforcements to enter.

Wasn't Dirty Duterte telling the Americans to piss off out of the PI a while back.

Seem he DOES need their assistance.

Eish, must be hard to back peddle so fast at his advanced age..

At least the Philippines doesn't have to worry about the navies of the world. Their merchant fleet seem to be quite capable of dealing with them!