SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—Muslim leaders in Central Luzon recommended the use of identification cards to guard their own ranks and it was not imposed on them by police and military officials, a police spokesperson said Tuesday.
The proposed ID system, which two senators and several critics have condemned as discriminatory, was reached at by about 70 Muslim leaders themselves during a peace and progress dialogue with the police and military in the region, Police Supt. Fe G. Grenas, public information officer of the Regional Police Office 3 based in Camp Olivas here, said.
Grenas stressed that Muslim leaders who attended the dialogue “find it very convenient for them to wear identification cards that is why they recommended it to the authorities during the meeting.”
They based their recommendation on the success of a similar project of a group in Paniqui, Tarlac, where it is being implemented based on the support of the Muslim population living in the area, the police official added.
Following the model of the Paniqui United Muslims Association, Muslims wearing ID cards must be signed by the local chief of police and the municipal or city mayor, and it must be worn all the time, specially in public places.
Chief Supt. Aaron Aquino, the Central Luzon police chief, stressed that though the idea “is noble, we never ordered its immediate implementation in Central Luzon,” Grenas said.
“The purpose of wearing ID cards of our Muslim brothers and sisters is it aims to separate the law-abiding ones from those who aren’t, and to maintain peace and order, including protecting vital installations in the area,” she added.
Earlier, Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Paolo Benigno Aquino called for the immediate halt of the supposedly proposed Muslim ID system in Central Luzon.
“This is discriminatory and a violation of the human rights of the Muslim brothers and sisters in the region,” Gatchalian warned.
Meanwhile, about 3,000 Muslim residents here are cooperating with the government to prevent terrorism in the area.
City Mayor Edwin D. Santiago said that although the Maute brothers, who started the siege in Marawi City, “have some relatives living here, they don’t involve themselves in the illegal activities specially terrorism.”
“They want to live in peace and earn a living for themselves and their families,” Santiago said. He noted that Muslim vendors ply their trade at the city proper everyday.
“As human beings, our brothers and sisters have also the right to earn honest living that is why we allow them to use the area after office, classes with little inconvenience on the part of the general public,” he said.