Source: Public Relations and Information Department

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House OKs creation of The National Commission on Muslim Filipinos
11 August 2008 01:23:46 PM
Writer: Gil Bugaoisan

Speaker Prospero C. Nograles today expressed confidence that the computerized ARMM elections would be the show window of the government's sincere efforts to achieve genuine autonomy for Muslim Filipinos to complement the ongoing socio-economic and political reform programs nationwide.

"Muslim Filipinos, our brothers, have the right to plot their destiny within the framework of the Philippine Constitution," Nograles said. He likewise announced parallel legislative action supplementing efforts for the complete integration of Muslim Filipinos into the mainstream of development.

To ensure that Muslim Filipinos are not denied their rightful share of the fruits of national development, Nograles said the House of Representatives has approved the elevation of the Office of Muslim Affairs (OMA) to the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos under House Bill 4253.

"It is our constitutional duty to ensure the rights and well-being of our Muslim brothers," Nograles said after the House transmitted the proposed "Act creating the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos" to the Senate.

HB 4253 creates the Commission that will in turn absorb the duties and functions of the existing Office of Muslim Affairs (OMA) and remain under the Office of the President.

Aside from the Speaker, other principal signatories of the House-initiated measure include Deputy Speaker Simeon Datumanong and Reps. Judy Syjuco, Rufus Rodriguez, Pangalian Balindong, Roilo Golez, Edcel Lagman, Mujiv Hataman, Datu Pax Mangudadatu, Erico Basilio Fabian, and Ernesto Pablo.

The measure was jointly sponsored in plenary by the House Committees on Muslim Affairs, Government Reorganization, and Appropriations chaired by Balindong, Fabian and Lagman, respectively.

Syjuco and Rodriguez, although non-Muslims, said the bill stresses the importance of Muslim Filipinos in nation building with due regard for their beliefs, customs, traditions, institutions and aspirations.

Datumanong said that the Commission must ensure that Muslim Filipinos, like all other indigenous groups, are active participants in national development.

Among other responsibilities, the Commission must establish the criteria for allocating additional resources for education, economic and cultural development programs.

It also has the function of advising the President in the formulation, coordination, implementation and monitoring of policies, plans, programs and projects affecting Muslim Filipino communities.

It would also act as the primary government agency through which Muslim Filipinos could seek government assistance and redress, and serve as medium through which such assistance may be extended to Muslim Filipinos.

It must also monitor and evaluate the performance of all existing policies and development programs of the government that seek to strengthen and uplift the socio-economic conditions of Muslim Filipinos and identify areas that need government intervention and support, Fabian and Balindong said.

Likewise, the Commission is mandated to provide legal and technical services for the survey, adjudication, titling, and development of Muslim Filipino ancestral lands and settlements proclaimed by the government for the Muslim Filipinos and issue certificates of ancestral land/domain titles.

HB 4253 mandates the undertaking of studies, establishment and maintenance of ethnographic research centers and museums on the culture and institutions of Muslim Filipinos. This is for purposes of policy formulation and program implementation as well as for the purpose of preserving their historical heritage.