MANILA, Philippines – Addressing fellow Southeast Asian leaders and leaders of India, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte called for stronger cooperation among countries to stop the financing of terrorist organizations.

Duterte made this push during his speech at the plenary session of the ASEAN (Association of Souteast Asian Nations) and India Commemorative Summit held on Thursday, January 25 in New Delhi.

“PRRD (President Rodrigo Roa Duterte), in the plenary, pushed for regional and multilateral cooperation to address terrorism financing to prevent violent extremism,” said Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque.

The Philippine leader also stressed the “importance of timely and thorough intelligence gathering and analysis.”

Before leaving for India, Duterte rued how a failure of intelligence led to the Marawi crisis lasting 5 months.

He said that international conferences are not enough to address the terrorist threat plaguing Southeast Asia and called for a “platform” to effectively quell the threat.

In his plenary session remarks, however, Duterte said he would “support the conduct of regular senior officials meetings on transnational crime, in consultation with India.”

Aside from security issues, Duterte also called for the promotion of the rights of migrant workers and for the signing of maritime and transport agreements that would improve connectivity between Southeast Asian countries and India.

He also urged the body to step up efforts to protect biodiversity in the region. – Rappler.com