Indonesia Honors Filipino Military Chief With Highest Star

Jakarta, June 19 (Antara)- The Indonesian government has awarded "Bintang Yudha Dharma Utama" (the Indonesian Defense Meritorious Service Star) to Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) General Gregorio P. Catapang. Commander of the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) General Moeldoko presented the star to his Filipino counterpart at the TNI Headquarters, here, Friday. The TNI and AFP have established cooperation in several areas including intelligence, military exercise and operations, and human resource development of the military personnel, Moeldoko said. He hoped that the cooperation between the TNI and AFP would be intensified in the future. General Moeldoko lauded the Philippine government for placing its trust on the TNI by joining the International Monitoring team deployed in southern Philippines. Hopefully, the presence of TNI's troops could contribute positively to the Philippines, he affirmed. General Catapang said he was highly honored and pleased to witness the cooperation between the AFP and TNI so far. As neighboring countries, he hoped that the bilateral cooperation would be strengthened and bring the two nations closer, among other things, to face the global changes, he noted.