Indonesia and Malaysia have welcomed the idea and the Philippines will submit, in a few months, details of the proposed sea lanes, where human and cargo traffic would be required to pass to prevent rigid inspection by security patrols, Cruz said.

The ambitious proposal, which would compliment a plan by the three countries to conduct yearlong joint patrols along their sea borders, reflect growing concern over reports of covert movement by Indonesian recruits of Al-Qaeda's regional ally Jemaah Islamiyah to jungle terror training camps in the southern Philippines, sometimes through Malaysia.

Weapons and bomb materials also have been smuggled across the region.

The proposed sea lanes could be monitored by radar along existing commercial routes, Cruz told reporters.

"If you have sea lanes and you have continuous patrol, we could pick out those who would not pass along there for boarding and inspection," Cruz said.

The proposal is a challenge for the impoverished Philippines, which has acknowledged problems guarding its vast porous coastlines in the volatile southern Mindanao region because of the weak navy and coast guard. It could also face opposition from the large numbers of fishermen between the Philippines and its two neighbors.

Philippine security officials say Jemaah Islamiyah, working with Filipino Muslim militants, set up terror training camps for Indonesian recruits in Mindanao starting in the late 1990s. US security officials also have expressed concern over the camps, saying they could produce terrorists that could strike anywhere in the world.

Jemaah Islamiyah has launched several terrorist attacks across Indonesia, including on the resort island of Bali.

The Philippine military says it has captured and shut down all of Jemaah Islamiyah's camps in Mindanao's mountainous heartland, and was hunting about 30 Indonesian militants. Security officials, however, said the militants could re-establish camps elsewhere in Mindanao.