THE determination of the border between Indonesia and the Philippines is one way of pushing the creation of a formal trade route between southern Philippines and eastern Indonesia.

"What we are trying to do here is to come up with a formal trade route that would enhance cross-border trading and travel between the two areas," Commodore Ediberto Suria, the Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao (NFEM) chief who headed the Philippine delegation to the 28th Vice Chairman's Conference of the Philippine-Indonesia Border Committee staged last week in Manado.

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With the border set in place, the two countries can better enforce their jurisdictions and can better secure their respective areas.

"Those passing through the route that we establish would be protected by authorities especially since they also pay the correct tariffs and duties," Suria said.

Piracy, although not as prevalent, has started to occur in the seas shared by Indonesia and the Philippines.

"There is a need to identify new coordinates for the common maritime border patrol areas to meet the challenging demands of addressing various perceived and possible threats between the two countries," Suria said.

Also pushed during the meeting was the definition of an agreed median line in the border area that has to be mutually agreed upon by both Indonesia and the Philippines.

"Once it will be defined, it will now determine where we can conduct combined or coordinated patrols," Suria said.

At present, there is no defined median line between the two countries, and the border is just determined by estimation. (CPM)