"Although Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte had opened his doors to Indonesian troops to fight ISIS in Marawi, the deployment of soldiers to engage in an overseas military operation has yet to be regulated by law," Hasanuddin stated in Jakarta.
Although the 1945 Constitution had called on every Indonesian citizen to maintain world peace, security, and social justice, several laws, including the military law, article 2b, line 6, Law No. 34 of 2004 and Law No 3 of 2002 have stipulated that the military is only obliged to participate in peace missions abroad in accordance with the countrys foreign affairs policy.
"Hence, as stated by the law, the Indonesian government is not allowed to deploy its troops overseas (for war purposes)," he remarked while adding that the military will only send its troops under the United Nations peace mission.
Although the Indonesian government has been part of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations, but the country has yet to enter a joint defense pact with the nations.
Hence, Indonesia has no legal basis to deploy its troops in Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines, the house member pointed out.
Indonesian troops can still support the Philippine soldiers by providing logistics, medical instruments, intelligence information, as well as facilitating combat training, Hasanuddin reiterated.
Meanwhile, Coordinating Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto had stated earlier on Monday that the Indonesian military has yet to decide on deploying its troops in Marawi, South Philippines.
According to Wiranto's statement, Indonesian President Joko Widodo has yet to give his approval to the deployment proposal.
"Before assigning soldiers to the hostile city, we need to complete several preparations, including issuing the regulation and launching a joint operational procedure (with the Philippine military). However, the two countries have now launched joint maritime patrols," Wiranto remarked before meeting President Widodo at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Monday.
Editor: Ade P Marboen
Copyright © ANTARA 2017
