US: No reports of abuse of religious freedom in Phl

WASHINGTON – Societal discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief or practice combined with economic disparities contributed to persistent conflict in certain provinces in Mindanao in 2012, the US State Department said.

But there were no reports of abuses of religious freedom, it said in its 2012 International Religious Freedom Report released on Monday.

The government did not ban or discourage specific religious groups or religious factions, the report said, but Muslims concentrated in some of the most impoverished provinces complained Manila had not made sufficient efforts to promote their economic development.

The government’s campaign against terrorist groups led some human rights non-government organizations to accuse the police and military of acting with bias in their treatment of Muslims.

The report said that as in other parts of the judicial system, Sharia courts suffered from a large number of unfilled positions due to budget restrictions and the difficulty of filling these posts as applicants must be members of both the Sharia bar and the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.

All five Sharia district court judgeships and 43 percent of circuit court judgeships remained vacant.