The Incompatibility of Islam with the Philippine Constitution
The Muslims in the Philippines compose the minority of the country’s total population. In fact, only around five percent of the total population in this predominantly Catholic nation are Muslims. Islam is the oldest monotheistic religion in the Philippines. At around the fourteenth century, the Islamic religion reached the Philippines with the arrival of Muslim traders from the Persian Gulf, Southern India, and their followers from several sultanate governments in the Malay Archipelago. As of today, the Filipino Muslims occupy the southwestern side of Mindano, the southern island in the Philippines which is the second largest island in the country.
Moro, derived from the Spanish word which means Moors or medieval Muslims, is the designation used by the Spaniards to call the Muslims of Mindanao. The Philippines had been a colony of Spain from the year 1521 to 1898. And during those times, the Moros have been seeking to establish an independent Islamic state in Mindanao to be named Bangsamoro. The word Bangsamoro is a combination of the old Malay word Bangsa, meaning nation, with the Spanish word Moro. A significant number of Moro rebellions occurred during the Spanish times. And these rebellions continued on during the times when the Philippines became a colony of the United States of America between 1898 and 1946. Conflicts and rebellions have continued in the Philippines up to the present times. One related issue with the Moro secession is the territorial dispute for Sabah against Malaysia. Muslims of Sulu province in Mindanao are claiming that the Sabah province of Malaysia was leased to the British back when Malaysia was still a British colony. The Philippine government since its independence in 1946 made a number of concessions to appease the Filipino Muslims of Mindanao. These have included laws like the Presidential Decree 1083 (PD 1083) in 1977 known as the Code of Muslim Personal Laws (CMPL) and National Law 20 in 1979 which created an Autonomous Government in Western and Central Mindanao, a special national government body established to represent Muslims interests and Islamic financing, by former Philippine dictator president Ferdinand Marcos.
In 1987, the Philippine people started anew by ratifying a new constitution. The 1987 constitution states the following.
Article II, Section 6
The separation of Church and State shall be inviolable.
Article III, Section 5
No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed. No religious test shall be required for the exercise of civil or political rights
President Corazon Aquino was the country’s leader during the time the new constitution was installed as the basis for all the laws and policies of the land. And one of Corazon Aquino’s responsibilities as the leader of the nation was to appease the Filipino Muslims of Mindanao. Therefore, Aquino initiated a number of dialogues with the rebel Muslims which resulted to the creation of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in 1989. ARMM was created by virtue of The Organic Act for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (RA 6734). In a plebiscite, only four provinces out of the several areas proposed to be included in ARMM opted to join the area of autonomy: Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.
Republic Act 6734 (RA 6734 ) is a law that imposes the following laws for ARMM.
Article IX
Section 2
There is hereby created a Shari’ah Appellate Court which, together with other Shari’ah and tribal courts, shall have jurisdiction over cases involving persons, family and property relations.
Section 15
Provisions to put into effect the organization of the Office of Jurisconsult in Islamic Laws as established under existing law and facilities for its proper functioning shall receive priority consideration.
Section 17
The provisions of the Muslim Code and the Tribal Code shall be applicable only to Muslims and other members of indigenous cultural communities respectively and nothing herein shall be construed to operate to the prejudice of non-Muslims and nonmembers of indigenous cultural communities.
Section 18
Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, the Shari’ah courts shall interpret Islamic law based on sources such as:
(1) Al-Qur’an (The Koran);
(2) Al-Sunnah (Prophetic traditions);
(3) Al-Qiyas (Analogy); and
(4) Al-Jima (Consensus).
One can clearly see the contradiction of the ARMM laws to the Philippine constitution with regards to Article III, Section 5 that prohibits Filipinos from making laws respecting an establishment of religion.
In 2001, a new law Republic Act 9054 (RA 9054) amended the RA 6734 during the term of then President Gloria Arroyo. The amended law expanded ARMM’s area of autonomy. In a plebiscite, Basilan and Marawi City (in Lanao del Sur) opted to join ARMM. RA 9054 lapsed into law, without the signature of President Gloria Arroyo.
RA9054 contains the following unconstitutional laws.
Article VIII
Section 1
Exercise of Judicial Power: “ The judicial powers shall be vested in the Supreme Court and in such lower courts as may be established by law including the Shariâ’ah Courts in accordance with Section 5 hereof.
Section 20
Jurisconsult in Islamic Law: “ The Regional Assembly shall give priority consideration to the organization of the office of jurisconsult in Islamic Law as established under the existing law and provision for its facilities to enable the proper functioning of the office.
Section 21
Customary Law: The Regional Assembly shall provide for the codification of indigenous laws and compilation for customary laws of the Muslims and the indigenous cultural communities in the autonomous region.
Section 22
Application and Interpretation of Laws: The provisions of the Muslim code and the tribal code shall be applicable only to Muslims and other members of indigenous cultural communities respectively.
Section 23
Bases for Interpretation of Islamic Law: Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, the Shariâ’ah courts shall interpret Islamic Law based on sources such as:
(1) Al-Qur’an (The Koran);
(2) Al-Sunnah (Prophetic traditions);
(3) Al-Qiyas (Analogy); and
(4) Al-Jima (Consensus).
As one can see, the amendments done to the original ARMM law did not change its contradiction to the Constitution about not allowing making of laws that favour certain religions.
Even if the ARMM laws were applied in Western Mindanao, the rebellions from other factions of Muslim Mindanao still continued. This is because the ARMM laws only appeased the group Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the group that supported the Sabah claim from Malaysia. There are still the other Muslim Factions like the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the group which has been negotiating with the Philippine government through the Malaysian legal channels, and the Abu Sayaf, a Muslim rebel kidnapping criminal group.
And so on October 7 in the year 2012, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III decided to dissolve the ARMM and replace it with a new autonomous region called Bangsamoro. The plan to create Bangsamoro Autonomous Region was the result of the negotiations between the Philippine government and the MILF through the Malaysian facilitators. And so this Bangsamoro plan will only appease the MILF faction but not the MNLF and the Abu Sayaf faction. The decision was not yet fully implemented as the Philippine Congress is still debating the passing of this law.
Despite the Philippine government’s announcement of a setting up of a Bangsamoro autonomous region, conflicts still remain. On 25 January 2015, forty-four members of the Philippine National Police were killed in Mamasapano in Maguindanao by the members of MILF, thus affecting the peace talks that would eventually lead to the setting up of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region. The plans to set up the new autonomous region had been taken up by the current regime of the newly elected Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
The Philippines struggle for peace is never ending. The Philippine government has created numerous times different versions of autonomous regions in Mindanao to appease the Muslims but those actions never worked. But one thing is clear. Creating a law that respects or favours certain peoples’ religion is not the solution. In fact, the solution here is to treat Filipino Muslims like any other citizens regardless of anyone’s religion. Equality is the answer. Acts of humanism towards one another is the solution. Everyone including the government should be blind to religion and count everyone equally. And the law should be applied to everyone on the basis of human rights and welfare of each and every Filipino.
By Roderick Tubil
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