National Police Director Ronald dela Rosa MINDANEWS FILE PHOTO BY MANMAN DEJETO
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MARAWI City — Two Lanao del Sur officials have warned against a “creeping Islamophobia” as they frowned over a proposal for an identification card for Muslims.

Zia Alonto Adiong, spokesperson of the Provincial Crisis Management Committee, said the proposal is discriminatory.

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“Why the selective implementation?” he asked.

“Islamophobia is starting to creep in,” the spokesperson said.

Vice Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr., asked: “National ID system pero para sa Muslim lang?”

But National Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa said here late last week that the proposal for an identification card for Muslims in central Luzon is a “locally initiated” move and is “not dictated” by  the

Dela Rosa said the move of central Luzon police officials is part of the documentation process of barangays hosting evacuees from this country’s lone Islamic city. Ninety-five percent of the city’s 210,000 population, according to Mayor Majul Gandamra, have been dispersed to various parts of the country — across Mindanao, Visayas and Luzon — since clashes between government forces and the Maute Group and its allies started on May 23.

Dela Rosa  said the barangays are merely recording evacuees from Marawi and that this is being done all over “dahil extra cautious ang mga LGUs (local government units) sa provinces, pino-profiling nila, nireecord nila para makasiguro sila na siguro walang makapunta doon na di dapat makapunta.”

“Locally initiated po yan, hindi po yan mandated by the national PNP leadership,” he reiterated.

Dela Rosa said he does not see this as a violation of human rights, claiming it is merely recording and not preventing the evacuees from entering their village.

He explained that when the evacuees arrive in the barangays, it is “normal” for the barangay captains to record their arrival especially because of the threats of terrorism. “I do not know what’s the violation there. Kung nagreecord ka lang sa mga tao na pumapasok sa iyong barangay.”

Told that the ID system being mulled in Central Luzon is not just for evacuees from Marawi but for all Muslims in the area, dela Rosa replied, “I don’t think so. Only the new arrivals.”

Dela Rosa noted there are thousands of Muslims and Maranaos who have been living in Pampanga and Tarlac for decades and do not need to go through recording purposes.

He explained barangay chairpersons record new arrivals to their villages, whether or not they are Christians or Muslims.

A July 4 Rappler report datelined Pampanga quoted Chief Supt. Aaron Aquino, central Luzon police director, as saying an ID system for Muslims may help authorities and Muslim community leaders identify and weed out undesirable individuals and terrorists in the provinces of Pampanga, Bataan, Bulacan, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija and Aurora.

“This system is a good practice from Paniqui, Tarlac, and we want this to be replicated in all Muslim communities in the whole region for easy and efficient identification of our Muslim brothers and sisters,” Aquino was quoted as saying.

Acting Interior Secretary Catalino Cuy said that aside from fighting corruption, criminality and illegal drugs, the government added a fourth which is the fight against violent extremism.

Cuy said they “encourage our local chief executives, actually up to the barangay level, to be vigilant” especially when there are new faces or strangers in their areas.

“I don’t think there is something wrong with that. This is just one of the precautionary measures” to prevent the entry of undesirable people such as terrorists, Cuy said.

In a statement issued July 6, Human Rights Watch said the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other human rights treaties to which the Philippines is a party prohibits discrimination based on religion.

“The IDs could also violate the rights to equal protection of the law, freedom of movement, and other basic rights. Requiring Muslim-only IDs in response to a perceived failure of Muslims to prevent Islamist fighters from entering Marawi City is a form of collective punishment. It is irrelevant from a rights perspective that during the consultation, some Muslim leaders did not object outright to the proposal,” the HRW said.

It noted that since Duterte declared martial law over Mindanao’s 27 provinces and 33 cities, there have been reports of against Muslims. “ID requirements for Muslims should be rejected outright,” it said. (carolyn arguillas of mindanews)

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