Indonesia honours 52 Filipino former defence officials and soldiers for Abu Sayyaf hostages rescue

MANILA: Indonesia has honoured 52 Filipino defence officials and soldiers for their role in the rescue of three Indonesian fishermen kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf group from the Malaysian Borneo state of Sabah's waters in 2019.?

Then-Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and then-Armed Forces of the Philippines chief General (Retired) Cirilito Sobejana both received the "Medali Perdamaian" or the Medal of Peace, the first awarded by Indonesia to foreign nationals.??

The ceremony was held at the Indonesian embassy in Manila on Wednesday, according to a statement by the Indonesian embassy in the Philippine capital.?

The other recipients were 50 members of the Western Mindanao Command who were directly involved in the rescue mission. They were given the Medal of Dharma Defence.

The three Indonesians were kidnapped while fishing in the waters of Tambisan Island in Lahad Datu district, just a short boat ride away from the southern Philippines, on September 23, 2019.

Two of them were eventually rescued in the southern Philippine province of Sulu on December 22 of that year while the remaining one was freed on January 15, 2020.

During the mission, Philippine Marine Sergeant Romnick Estacio died and two others sustained gunshot wounds. Estacio was posthumously awarded during the ceremony.

Sobejana, at the time of the incident, was the commander of the Western Mindanao Command.

Lorenzana said the trilateral cooperation between the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia had greatly contributed to the progress in curbing kidnappings in the Sulu Sea.

"(The actions taken by the Philippines) and the trilateral cooperation among the three countries proved to be very effective, that for a while, there were no kidnappings in the Sulu Sea. But sometime in 2019, the (Abu Sayyaf) kidnapped three Indonesian nationals and tried to bring them to Sulu," Lorenzana recalled, according to the Philippine News Agency.

"Our theory proved correct that the kidnappers needed the islands to successfully bring their hostages to Sulu," he said, adding they discovered the Abu Sayyaf's elaborate operations using the islands in the Sulu Sea to initially hide their hostages, moving them from island to island, until they reached Sulu.

Indonesian Ambassador to the Philippines Agus Widjojo said the awards were accorded by Indonesian President Joko Widodo to those who contributed greatly to advancing peace.?

"I have always believed in the capabilities and professionalism of the Philippine soldiers under the leadership of their commanding officers in ensuring favourable results," Widjojo said.

"It is their sense of commitment to uphold the righteous and condemn the lawlessness that made Indonesia decide to grant them two of Indonesia's tokens of honour: the Medal of Peace and the Dharma Medal of Defence."?

Widjojo said the award shows the success of effective defence and security cooperation between the two nations.

He expressed hope the two nations will further strengthen this area of cooperation as terrorism and other of transnational crimes remain an ever-present threat.

"It could take the form of joint patrolling, intelligence sharing, capacity enhancement and learning of best practices. It can take many forms but the purpose is so that when we come together to conduct a joint mission, we are already familiar with each other," he said.