Is an Islamic Substate in the Philippines Possible? by Araceli Lorayes

The following essay is by Araceli Z. Lorayes, a retired life insurance executive and currently a free lance writer. Araceli and I had attended St. Theresa's College in Manila.  We've had lively email discussions about Muslim Philippines. She has given me permission to reprint the following article.

Bangsamoro refers to the proposed autonomous political entity in the Philippines for the ethnic Moro (Muslim) who make up 5% of the Filipino population.

The photo on the right shows Araceli Z. Lorayes. ~ Cecilia Brainard

IS AN ISLAMIC SUBSTATE IN THE PHILIPPINES POSSIBLE?
by Araceli Z. Lorayes
(reprinted by permission of the author. This first appeared as "Religious Policing in the Bangsamoro" in The Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 15, 2015)

Are the fears of an Islamic substate (in the Philippines) really implausible? 

A close reading of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law shows that it does provide for institutions and mechanisms for this very possibility.

Not only is Shari’ah enshrined as part of the justice system, but Article V Sec. 48 empowers the Bangsamoro government to enforce Shari’ah by giving it authority over the “Hisbah office for accountability as part of the Shari’ah justice system.”

This is not financial accountability. Hisbah is the Islamic doctrine of accountability—i.e., the duty of the ruler to “command right and forbid wrong.” And it is echoed under Section 6 of Article IV, General Principles and Policies: “Promotion of Right: The Bangsamoro shall adhere to the principle of enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong."

How will the Hisbah office enforce accountability? 

If we go by the practices of other Islamic states, it will be done through religious police called mutaween.

When Hisbah was first instituted by Omar, the second caliph after the Prophet Mohammad, mutaween were also tasked to ensure honesty in business transactions. But their duties today mainly have to do with enforcing Islamic morality. Overseas Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia are familiar with the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which patrols the streets to ensure that no Christian services are held even in private homes; arrests people consuming liquor; prevents women from driving; etc. Mutaween are also found in Malaysia and Indonesia.

The Bangsamoro government can establish awqaf (endowments) and charitable trusts. Awqaf are religious endowments and, among other charitable activities, can also provide for the maintenance of mosques and the payment of salaries of ulemas, as is done in Egypt.

It can also conduct “competitive qualifying examinations of madaris teachers for permanent appointment to the Bangsamoro education system.” This would be like the Department of Education conducting examinations on Catholic doctrine for prospective public school teachers!

The government can set up an office to attend to the needs of Muslims going on hajj and umrah, which should bother non-Muslim taxpayers whose own pilgrimages do not attract such government solicitude.

Parliament can enact laws on Shari’ah “including the definition of crimes and prescription of penalties thereof.” However, the BBL is vague on the “definition of crimes.” For this we have to refer to what are considered crimes under Shari’ah.

Hadd are crimes against Allah—e.g., apostasy, blasphemy, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, consuming alcohol, theft, accusing someone of illicit sex without producing the requisite four witnesses. Penalties for such crimes in other Islamic states can be extremely severe, but fortunately, the BBL is not so draconian; it prescribes a maximum penalty of six years imprisonment for Shari’ah crimes.

The question is: Should civil authorities even impose sanctions for religious offenses such as apostasy and blasphemy, or for the consumption of liquor?

Qisas are crimes that may be considered as disputes between individuals where retaliation as punishment is allowed. These include murder and assault. For example, if a woman has battery acid thrown in her face, she is entitled to demand that her assailant also have battery acid thrown in her face.

Tazir refer to crimes whose punishment is not specified in the Koran and the Hadith and are therefore left to the discretion of the judge.

Qisas and tazir are crimes that fall within the Philippine Civil and Criminal Codes, so the effect of Shari’ah is to remove Muslim perpetrators from the Philippine justice system. Since non-Muslims have no standing in Shari’ah courts, problems arise if the aggrieved party is a non-Muslim.

Freedom of conscience is another issue that has been overlooked. Section 1k of Article IX (now VIII) of the original BBL which enumerates basic rights, reads: “Right to freedom from religious, ethnic and sectarian harassment.”

But who is going to harass whom? Note that the last paragraph of this section states that Parliament may pass a law for the promotion and protection of these enforceable rights.

To understand Section 1k we have to refer back to the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights signed by Islamic nations. Specifically, in Article 10, the Cairo Declaration states: “Islam is the religion of true unspoiled nature. It is prohibited to exercise any form of pressure on man or to exploit his poverty or ignorance in order to force him to change his religion to another religion or to atheism.”

Section 1k, therefore, is a reworked version of Article 10, and it is not so much a right as a warning to Muslims that they may not change religion or become atheist, and to Christians that evangelization within the Muslim community is forbidden and that Parliament can pass a law penalizing such evangelization as “religious harassment.”

Proponents of the BBL may deny that the proposed Bangsamoro will be an Islamic substate, and I hope that they can make a convincing rebuttal that this will indeed not be the case. For my part, I feel sorry for the Peace Council, some of whose members are Catholic clergy, who rashly promised to explain the benefits of the BBL, without realizing that the price of those economic benefits will be paid not only with taxpayer money, much of which will come from non-Muslims, but also with limitations on personal freedoms.

~~~

Map courtesy of OPAPP

Comments reprinted from the Inquirer:

This is what we have been saying all along.
MAYbe the brilliant UP PROFESSOR of the OGAG (OPPAP sorry) could reconcile their Brilliant arguments with the facts presented on this write-up.

~~

 I know people in Maguindanao -- including Christians who live near the Liguasan marsh and Muslim artists from prominent families -- who are against the BBL. Yet they cannot openly
declare their sentiments and opinions due to death threats from the MILF and other groups now being financed by Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. What more if you give the initial billions and the levers of power to these thugs?

In Maguindanao, even just under ARMM, the Philippines has been losing some of its most precious and oldest cultural heritage. The pre-Islamic rituals and epic songs preserved by indigenous tribes have been declared by ARMM authorities as "evil" based on the Koran. These beautiful rituals and epics that have pre-dated the first Arab traders and been preserved for many centuries are cultural treasures that belong to the whole nation. But they are now being wiped out by religious intolerance under the ARMM. Now what more with the expanded powers and enabling of Sharia Law under BBL?

Maguindanao artists, including enlightened Muslim artists, have been secretly recording whatever of the epic songs have survived despite danger to their lives. This just reminds us that lofty words on a piece of paper can be ignored if religious fanatic thugs gain enough power without effective checks.

~~

You have expressed a very valid concern--that of indigenous cultures being destroyed by religious fanaticism. I suggest that you write Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of your concerns, calling the attention of his chief of staff, Shiela Mae Enriquez. You should also write to various cultural agencies also, to urge them to protect these last examples of indigenous culture.

~~~

Thanks to Ms. Lorayes for explaining so cogently the Pandora's box that the BBL is set to unleash on the Republic if this reckless bill is not stopped in its tracks.

No to BBL. Yes to the enlightened principle of the separation of Church and State embedded in the Constitution. Yes to a Mindanao development plan supportive and inclusive of groups of all creeds.

~~~

The BBL is not a war of religion, but an issue of freedom. Our brothers in Mindanao are simply asking that they may receive what we do in Manila. Primarily, peace is one of the things that we should look at as a benefit, because they no longer have to depend on the NCR for a lot of things they lack. A lot of doors are opening for Mindanao, just by having the possibility that the BBL will be passed.

~~~

"An issue of freedom"? What have they not received that are given to you in Manila? There had been dozens & dozens of Moro senators, congressmen, governors, mayors, Supreme Court Justices, Comelec Commissioners, presidents of the Amanah Bank, SPDA & other GOCCs who have come & gone & became very filthy, dirty rich but left their provinces underdeveloped without infrastructures & their constituents in dire poverty. They, too, were corrupt. Ampatuan is a very prominent recent example & let us not forget Nur Misuari who stole billions of govt funds in Pesos & foreign aids in Dollars. 
The issue is really the sense of entitlement of Iqbal to inherit the "throne" from Misuari. Remember, Misuari refused to relinquish his position because of his "feeling" of entitlement to the "throne" to "sultanship" & non-accountability of public funds. What do you think would prevent Iqbal from doing another "Misuari". That is the "door" of possibility that the MILF would like to grab from the MNLF. There are still some other groups in competition with the MILF. There will be no end to the strife.
The BBL is a Trojan Horse for the propagation of Islamic States. That is actually an issue of religion. They say that Islam means peace but what they really want is the peace of death for "infidels".
There will be no peace if the BBL is passed.

~~~

If the BBL passes, be prepared for the establishment of ISIM
ISIM - Islamic State In Mindanao.
I just can't wait to have radicalized Jihadis excited to impose their vibrant, forgiving, and accepting culture and religon 500 kilometers from my doorstep.

~~
There are more comments on the topic in the Inquirer, please visit the site.

Read also
Araceli Z. Lorayes Writes About Sharia Law in the Philippines
The 44 Elite Commandos Who Fell in Mindanao
Filipina Muslim Princes Tarhata Kiram
Is Peace in Sight for Muslim Philippines?
Did Philippine Muslim Women Cover Their Heads in the 1900s?

Tags: Muslim Philippines, Moro, Bangsamoro, Shariah law, Sharia, BBL, religion, politiccs, Filipinos, Mindanao, Sulu

This is all for now,
Cecilia