Malaysian, Indonesian naval officials tour Tawi-Tawi province

COTABATO CITY --- Residents of Tawi-Tawi are optimistic the three-day visit in the province of defense officials from Malaysia and Indonesia will improve trade relations of the local business sector with both states.Representatives from the Royal Malaysian Navy and Tentara Nacional Indonesia were in Tawi-Tawi from November 13 to 15 as part of the Trilateral Cooperative Agreement, or TRICA, of the two countries and Philippines.The agreement, crafted on July 14, 2016 in Jakarta, enjoins Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines to cooperate in ensuring the safety of seafarers in each other’s contiguous territorial waters through tactical initiatives and sharing of security intelligence.In separate statements Tuesday, Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez, Jr. of the Western Mindanao Command and Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao both expressed gratitude to residents of Tawi-Tawi for their cordial reception of the visiting Malaysian and Indonesian naval contingents.They arrived at the Juan Magluyan Naval Station in Barangay Batu-Batu in Panglima Sugala island town in Tawi-Tawi on board navy frigates at exactly 8:43 a.m. on Monday, according to Galvez.Tawi-Tawi Gov. Rashidin Matba and Panglima Sugala Mayor Rejie Sahali-Generale led the welcome rite for the foreign visitors.Tawi-Tawi is a component province of ARMM, which also covers Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur in mainland Mindanao and the islands of Sulu and Basilan.While Tawi-Tawi is known as ARMM’s most peaceful province, its economy is suffering from the adverse effects of the criminal activities of the Sulu-based Islamic State-inspired Abu Sayyaf at the sea border of Malaysia and Philippines.Galvez said the three-day visit to Tawi-Tawi of Malaysian and Indonesian security officials will help assure the public that the TRICA will benefit residents of islands in the territorial seas of its three signatory countries. Their visit is aimed at strengthening maritime security operations to curtail piracy and other crimes perpetrated by extremists through a limited trilateral patrol with Malaysian and Indonesian navy forces, Galvez said. Sahali-Generale, now in her second term as mayor of Panglima Sugala, said on Wednesday that she and her constituents are optimistic the visit of defense executives from Malaysia and Indonesia will usher in improvements in Tawi-Tawi’s business climate.Tawi-Tawi, also known as the country’s southern front door, is a major entry and exit point for Filipinos working in Malaysia.Matba, a first-termer governor, said they are ready to host more visits of military officials from the two countries.Matba said Malaysians and Indonesians already have trade ties with Tawi-Tawi islanders even before the Philippines became a sovereign state.Matba said he is certain Tawi-Tawi’s economy will bounce back faster than expected with the improving security relations with Malaysia and Indonesia and with the continuing implementation by the ARMM regional government of high-ticket infrastructure projects in island towns in the province.The executive department of ARMM has spent some P5 billion for various infrastructure projects in Tawi-Tawi, among them seaports and concrete roads, in the past five years.Matba said Tawi-Tawi is a safe destination for domestic and foreign business capitalists owing to the protection and socio-economic interventions from the ARMM government, the WestMinCom and the Philippine National Police.