RDC pushing for Shari'a court

CEBU - The Regional Development Council is pushing for the establishment of a Shari’a District Court in the Visayas to cater to the Muslims in the region.

In a resolution penned by Roderic Poca, chairman of the council’s Development Administrative Committee, RDC said there is a need to amend Presidential Decree 1083 or the Code of the Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines, such that a district court would be established in the Visayas.

RDC is proposing that the court would seat in Ilo-ilo City for Region 6, Cebu City for Region 7 and Tacloban City for Region 8.

In Mindanao, Shari’a Courts are located in the Province of Sulu, Province of Tawi-tawi, Zamboanga City, Marawi City and Cotabato City among others.

But Poca said Muslims living in the Visayas are having a difficult time settling their legal concerns because they would have to travel to Mindanao for litigation.

About 100,000 or one-third of the total Muslim population in the Visayas are living in Cebu.

“This is not only time-consuming and expensive for the litigants but can also create confusion on the jurisdiction of regular courts over cases covered by Presidential Decree (PD) 1083,” the resolution reads.

“Indeed, there is no Shari’a Court now in the Visayas to implement the Muslim Code among the Muslims in the area…realizing the urgency of the need therefore, we hereby express our full support to the petitions of the Muslims in the Visayas for the creation of at least one Shari’a Circuit Court for each of Regions 6, 7, and 8, and one Shari’a District Court for the whole Visayas,” the resolution further reads.

Earlier, the Office of Muslim Affairs- Region 7 requested assistance from the RDC for the establishment of the Shari’a Circuit court in the Visayas.

The Regional Trial Courts of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-lapu also passed a resolution expressing their full support to the petitions of the Muslims in the Visayas for the creation of at least one Shari’a Circuit Court each for Regions 6, 7 and 8.

The judges have acknowledged the absence of Shari’a courts in the Visayas despite the growing number of Muslims in the region. OMA has recorded around 300,000 Muslims now residing in the Visayas.

PD 1083 provides that “the State shall consider the customs, traditions, beliefs and interests of national cultural communities in the formulation and implementation of state policies which recognizes the legal system of the Muslims in the Philippines as part of the law of the land and seeks to make Islamic intitutions more effective, codifies Muslim personal laws, and provides for an effective administration and enforcement of Muslim personal laws among Muslims.” — Garry B. Lao and Darlanne Sino Cruz/JMO

 (THE FREEMAN)