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| AsiaViews, Edition: 45/VI/February2010 |
| BIMP-EAGA |
| Calling the Navy to Secure Peace in East ASEAN |
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| Gas cylinders from Shell and Petronas bound for Tawau, Malaysia in LKMD Sebatik Port, Nunukan Regency, East Kalimantan. TEMPO/FIRMAN HIDAYAT |
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Cagayan de Sulu stands like an outcast in the sea of Sulu, located as a dot between Balabac and Tawi-Tawi. It is home to the marginalized Muslim seafaring tribe of the Jama Mapun, a tiny island unknown at the edge of the Philippine map and rarely seen by the rest of the country. Getting there took about 20 hours or more than 200 nautical miles, west from the naval station in Zamboanga, sailing on a Naval patrol ship floating at a snail’s pace of about 12 knots per hour.
This is the southern ‘backdoor’ of the Philippines, ranging from the swath of southern Palawan to the Sulu archipelago to Sarangani bay, and one meant to be torn down by the BIMP-EAGA, a growth area bringing together the backwaters of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Since it was officially created about 15 years ago, the BIMP-EAGA has had its ups and downs. To spur economic growth, it began somewhat cautiously to establish sea and air linkages to boost trade and tourism, giving value to the sea lanes, passages, and protected zones long ignored by the Philippine government. A region beset by piracy, smuggling, and recently turned into an escape corridor by Islamic terrorists, the four countries had a vision of reviving the past glory of 17th century trade relations – imagining what the wealth of natural resources on the islands of Mindanao, Borneo, Sulawesi, Maluku can do with a combined size of 1.6 million square meters and 57.5 million people.
So far the BIMP-EAGA has opened sea linkages from Zamboanga to Sandakan, and irregular flights to Kota Kinabalu, as well as air routes from Davao to Manado. There are also ongoing initiatives for direct importation of diesel fuel and joint border patrols separately between the Philippines and Indonesia, and the Philippines and Malaysia.
There will have to be a single point of contact among the three littoral countries of the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, shaping the vision of their cooperation into a virtual alliance of a pyramid, where the main point is the “Common Operation Procedure” of standards for border patrol, sharing of intelligence and database, formulating security measures. In late September, representatives met in Cebu for a conference on an official diplomatic level but one that was non-binding and non-decision making, to seek a “fertile ground to harness good ideas” as they looked into a “notional bilateral standard operating procedure” – said Rodel Cruz, former undersecretary of defense who organized the meeting in the capacity of a think tank. It’s all about building blocks and sharing the burden, he added.
All nations of the BIMP-EAGA have each a different perception of major threats in their respective area – and we are talking here of drug smuggling, human trafficking, the entry and exit points of Islamic terrorist cells, not to mention that the seas of Sulu and Sulawesi are home to an abundant marine life and a treasure trove of corals. In fact the initial agreements that brought them together, like an icebreaker to neighbors wary of each other, was an undertaking to save the endangered green turtles.
Now there is a bigger interest in the Coral Triangle Initiative spearheaded by Indonesia in 2007, an area of 75,000 square kilometers that is said to have the world’s richest coral reefs and home to about 3,000 species of fishes. This marine wonder of biodiversity can expand the fishing industry (slackened by the recent financial crisis and strict regulations imposed by Indonesia ostensibly to minimize abuse of the environment) and promote eco tourism, with the USAID agency granting about 40 million dollars to improve management of marine and coastal resources.
And so the friendly waves are taking them to the direction of three E’s: Ecology, Economy, Enforcement. Save the environment for a sustainable development worthy of making this area a huge fish exporter; shore up trade and commerce that had flourished centuries ago before the colonizers came and divided the borders; and keep out the bad guys that have made peace fragile and violence common.
Under the BIMP-EAGA’s framework, Brunei is to take charge of Transport and Infrastructure; Indonesia to undertake the development of natural resources; tourism for Malaysia; and small-to-medium enterprises for the Philippines, which has hosted business conventions in Mindanao to encourage more investors for the region. Sources say Australia has looked into development and business networking. China undoubtedly has inched its way towards economic cooperation, and Japan has provided technical support for fisheries and aquaculture.
In the sustained effort of bridging gaps during the yearly conferences started since 2006 on security, incremental steps are being taken to update their standard operating procedure, starting off with the conduct of coordinated patrol, whether joint or combined, and a border crossing system. Malaysia has already put in place its Maritime Enforcement Agency. Indonesia has recently set up the Indonesian Maritime Security Coordination Boards known as a BAKORKAMLA (in Bahasa). And, as for the Philippines, it is banking on the Coast Watch South.
The Coast Watch South system was initially borne out of a modernization program for the Philippine Navy but has since broadened its scope to securing peace in the maritime region, vital for the long-term success of BIMP-EAGA. Although the Coast Watch has yet to be signed as an executive order, the Navy is leading the way along with the Coast Guard and the Maritime Police, aided by a host of local agencies involved in quarantine, customs, the environment – which are to help facilitate trade cooperation for the BIMP-EAGA. The Coast Guard, however, is toying with the possibility that command and control would eventually fall under its responsibility at some point in the future, to give it a ‘civilian face’ – white ships, not the grey warrior ships – as Malaysia has done and Indonesia following suit.
If the Navy stays on course despite its monetary hindrances to modernization, it might change the way people of the islands think, that there might be a better way other than smuggling for a living, so close as they are to Malaysia with whom a form of ‘barter trade’ existed through a social and cultural bond. And maybe, too, the central government in the north will open their eyes, see beyond the land, to what wealth water can bring, what Muslim communities living on the fringes can do to find their sense of belonging. As in the words of the Philippine Commander of the Naval Forces South, Rear Admiral Alexander Pama, “It is more of living in harmony and it can be done.” |
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| By Criselda Yabes (NEWSBREAK) |
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| Asiaviews, Vol.III No.9 January-February 2010 |
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