Philippine police push for ID system for Muslims, HRW condemns move

The Muslim-only IDs system is already in place in some towns

The Human Rights Watch on Wednesday condemned a move suggested by police officials of a region in Philippines to issue mandatory identification cards for Muslims living in the country.

“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 HRW said in a statement. “IDs could also violate the rights to equal protection of the law, freedom of movement, and other basic rights.”



The rights organisation described “requiring Muslim-only IDs in response to a perceived failure of Muslims to prevent militants from entering Marawi City” as “collective punishment". “ID requirements for Muslims should be rejected outright,” it added.

The issue was raised during a session on July 4 at the provincial capitol building in Pampanga, in the presence of Central Luzon police, military, political leader and around 200 Muslim religious and community leaders, Rappler reported.



Chief Superintendent Aaron Aquino, the Police Regional Office 3 director, said the proposed system “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". The cards will be signed by police and local government officials.

Aquino said, the system, which was already in place in some towns, was very working well. “This system is a good practice in 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,” he added.