On Monday, Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia officially launched the much-anticipated trilateral patrols of the Sulu-Sulawesi Sea. Say observers it is an example of an “indigenous, minilateral security arrangement”, now set against the backdrop of the on-going Marawi City siege. Today, we ask how effective this initiative, which was reported during the recent Shangri-La Dialogues, will be and how it is related to larger geo-political concerns in the region.