SOUTHEAST ASIA TRIPLETS REUNITED INDONESIA, MALAYA AND THE PHILIPPINES ARE " TRIPLETS 
" WHO BECAME SEPARATED AT BIRTH, WHO WERE PLACED UNDER THE 
CARE OF DIFFERENT FOSTER PARENTS BUT WHO HAVE NOW COME OF 
AGE AND ARE TRYING TO REDISCOVER THEIR COMMON ORIGIN AND SHAPE 
THEIR COMMON DESTINY . " THIS DESCRIPTION OF THE THREE MALAY 
STATES WAS OFFERED LAST YEAR BY PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT DIOSDADO MACAPAGAL . 
IN MANILA LAST WEEK, THE TOP MINISTERS OF THE THREE NATIONS 
MADE PLANS TO BRING THE TRIPLETS TOGETHER AGAIN . THE EVENT 
SUGGESTED THAT, AT LEAST FOR THE TIME BEING, CANTANKEROUS INDONESIA IS 
GETTING TO BE A MORE RESPONSIBLE CITIZEN IN THE SOUTHEAST ASIA 
NEIGHBORHOOD . THE NEW GROUPING WOULD LOOSELY JOIN INDONESIA AND THE 
PHILIPPINES TO TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN'S FEDERATION OF MALAYSIA (MALAYA, SINGAPORE, NORTH 
BORNEO, SARAWAK AND BRUNEI) TO BE ESTABLISHED AUG . 31 . 
THE PHILIPPINES CLAIM A PART OF NORTH BORNEO AS ITS OWN 
BUT AGREED AMICABLY TO POSTPONE SETTLEMENT OF THE ISSUE . INDONESIA'S 
PRESIDENT SUKARNO, WHO HAD CONDEMNED THE MALAYSIA FEDERATION AS AN IMPERIALIST 
PLOT, APPARENTLY REALIZED THAT SINCE HE CAN'T STOP IT, HE MIGHT 
AS WELL TRY TO JOIN IT . MOST SURPRISING ITEM IN 
THE MANILA AGREEMENT WAS A PLEDGE OF MUTUAL DEFENSE AGAINST " 
SUBVERSION IN ANY FORM OR MANIFESTATION . " THIS PLEDGE IS 
AIMED NOT ONLY AT COMMUNISM BUT ALSO AGAINST THE SIZABLE CHINESE 
MINORITIES WHO DOMINATE THE INDUSTRY AND TRADE OF SOUTHEAST ASIA . 
STILL, ANY ANTI-COMMUNIST STEP IS REMARKABLE FOR INDONESIA . HAVING MADE 
THIS POLITICAL MOVE MORE FAVORABLE TO THE WEST, SOME OBSERVERS EXPECT 
THAT SUKARNO WILL SOON MAKE A MOVE TO PLACATE RED CHINA 
. NEXT STEP : A JULY SUMMIT CONFERENCE AT MANILA BETWEEN 
SUKARNO, ABDUL RAHMAN AND MACAPAGAL TO SET UP A PERMANENT CONSULTATIVE 
GROUP TO BE KNOWN AS MAPHILINDO . 