On 28-March-2022, Malaysian Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, and yours truly, representing the Philippines, held our Ministerial Meeting on Trilateral Cooperative Arrangement (TCA).

To further strengthen the security of Sulu and Sulawesi Seas, we agreed to develop the TCA beyond the current security landscape through multiagency combination, accelerate the placement of Trilateral Maritime Patrol Relations Officers in each country, and enhance intelligence in surveillance operations.

We also agreed to institutionalize TCA yearly, increase monitoring of seas, and explore the possibility of joint training on land.

Since the signing of the TCA in 2017, the conduct of joint patrols and sharing of intelligence resulted in zero incidence of kidnapping for ransom which used to be very rampant in the Sulu and Sulawesi seas.