INDONESIAN President Joko Widodo has called up President Rodrigo Duterte in a bid to secure the freedom of three Indonesian sailors kidnapped by the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf, a top Indonesian official has confirmed.
“The President has called the President of the Philippines,” Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan told reporters in Jakarta on Tuesday.
The Indonesian government said Widodo wrote Duterte to ask him to help in the release of its kidnapped citizens.
“President Duterte has responded,” Luhut said.
He also confirmed that Indonesian Defense Secretary Ryamizard Ryacudu would soon meet with Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammudin Hussein on Tuesday next week to discuss joint patrols in the territorial waters of the three countries that are considered “vulnerable.”
The Indonesian government is being pressed for allegedly being “too lenient” in dealing with the Abu Sayyaf, while the Philippine authorities are also being criticized for not doing enough to deal with the terrorists.
The three Indonesians, who hail from Flores in East Nusa Tenggara, were reportedly abducted by the Abu Sayyaf on July 9 in Felda Sahabat in Malaysia.
They were on board a Malaysian-flagged fishing vessel when five members of the Abu Sayyaf came on board, hijacked their boat and held them hostage in Mindanao.
The terrorist group has abducted 24 Indonesian sailors over the past four months.