19 September 2016 — President Rodrigo Roa Duterte embarked on his first State Visit as the 16th President of the Philippines to the Republic of Indonesia on September 08 to 09.
He arrived in Jakarta on the evening of 08 September, coming in directly from his successful participation at the ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos. He was met at the Halim Perdanakusuma airport by Ambassador Maria Lumen B. Isleta and Minister Yasonna Laoly of the Indonesian Ministry for Law and Human Rights.
President Duterte proceeded to the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery for the wreath-laying ceremony, and then to Istana Merdeka (State Palace) where he was welcomed with a 21-fire gun salute. After being welcomed with state honors, President Duterte had a friendly and fruitful meeting with his counterpart, President Joko Widodo, where they discussed vital matters concerning Indonesian-Philippines relations.
The two leaders discussed maritime cooperation and President Duterte raised the possibility of deepening fisheries cooperation and exchanges in shipbuilding and seafarers.
The President thanked Indonesia for its support for the Philippine Peace Process, and discussed working together for the development of Mindanao, including boosting air and sea connectivity through opening RoRo routes and direct flights with Indonesia.
President Widodo expressed Indonesia’s full support for the Philippines’ ASEAN Chairmanship in 2017 while President Duterte looked forward to welcoming his counterpart to the Philippines and reciprocating the warm and generous hospitality accorded by the Indonesian government to his delegation.
Recognizing the need for greater cooperation to combat transnational crime and countering violent extremism, the two Presidents signed a Joint Statement calling for the effective implementation of measures to address security concerns in the maritime areas of common concern. The Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia are all working towards the realization of trilateral cooperation and see immediate results.
Earlier in the day, the President met with the members of the Filipino Community in Indonesia who came from Jakarta and places even as far as Bali, Surabaya, Bandung and Medan. Attendees numbering around 600 packed the Grand Ballroom of the Shangri-La Jakarta Hotel for the lunchtime event.
President Jokowi then toured his Filipino counterpart in the Tanah Abang textile market in central Jakarta, in keeping with his style of blusukan, Indonesian for “impromptu visit” to be among the common man. The Indonesian leader remarked that as former mayors who both became presidents, President Duterte and he share many similarities such as the desire to among their people and not being very strict with protocol. END