26 February 2014. Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario met with Indonesian Foreign Minister Dr. Marty M. Natalegawa in Jakarta on February 24 for the 6th Meeting of the Philippines-Indonesia Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC). The JCBC is a mechanism for discussing and reviewing the overall bilateral relations between both countries.
The ministers discussed cooperation in political, defense and security relations, including border patrol and border crossing; economic relations, including trade and investment; and socio-cultural relations, including cooperation in health, culture, labor, sports and youth.
The meeting approved the Philippine-Indonesia Plan of Action for 2014-2016, which provides a roadmap, concrete programs and specific timelines for cooperative initiatives between both countries. Emphasizing the importance of a “scorecard” for ensuring implementation of initiatives under the Plan of Action, Minister Natalegawa lauded the creation of three (3) Working Groups on political, security and border issues; economic issues; and socio-cultural issues and the establishment of a Senior Officials Meeting to monitor progress on these.
Both Ministers also approved and witnessed the signing of an Agreement on Mandatory Consular Notification and Assistance, which provides a mechanism to facilitate the protection of the rights of nationals who are detained, arrested, deprived of freedom or undergoing judicial process before national courts, or who have died while in custody of the receiving state.
The Ministers also welcomed the historic conclusion of bilateral talks on delimitation of their exclusive economic zones. The talks, which started in 1994, are expected to lead to the signing of a maritime boundary treaty in the following months.
There were also discussions on regional and international issues, including the South China Sea and the evolving regional architecture in Asia, with particular emphasis on the role of ASEAN.
The next meeting of the JCBC will be held in Manila in 2016.
The Philippines and Indonesia are celebrating the 65th anniversary of their bilateral relations, which were officially established on 24 November 1949. END
