Bato: ID system vs terror

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Director General Ronald “ Bato” dela Rosa, chief of the Philippine National Police, said he supported an identification (ID) system that would help stop local and foreign terrorists from creeping into communities and turning these into strongholds.

He said he approved of the system “if it doesn’t violate any human rights, if it can be considered constitutional and if it is acceptable to all stakeholders like communities, Muslims, local governments and police, kung mapag-usapan nang maayos (if this can be discussed well).”

Dela Rosa was here to receive 24 vehicles donated by the Pampanga provincial government to help the police’s war on drugs.

Chief Supt. Aaron Aquino, Central Luzon police director, recommended expanding an ID system that had been operated by Muslims in Paniqui town and Tarlac City since June.

His proposal, which was presented during a July 4 forum here, had not drawn negative reactions from 200 Muslim leaders in the region. More than 23,000 Muslims, most of them Maranao, live in Central Luzon and worship in 103 local mosques.

No discrimination

The purpose of an ID system, Dela Rosa said, was “not to discriminate [against] any particular ethnic race or group of people but really to make the communities safe from terrorism.”

“We should see it [from] that angle. We want to secure communities against terrorism,” he said.

According to him, the Tarlac ID system could not be discriminatory because it was initiated by Paniqui United Muslims Association and United Muslims Association of Tarlac City.

“They’re already angry at what the Maute group and other Islamic State-inspired groups have done. [The Muslims in Tarlac] don’t want to be infiltrated by these groups,” Dela Rosa said.

“I hope the critics will adjust their point of view—their stance—because the [ID system] is okay [with Muslims in Tarlac]. Why should critics not want it when this is a concern [of Muslims in Tarlac]?”

In a July 12 letter to the Inquirer, former Tarlac Gov. Margarita Cojuangco said she was initially surprised that Muslims in the province were required to have an ID.

ID for residents

“[But during] my interviews, the majority of these Muslim migrants wanted IDs to identify themselves as legitimate Tarlac residents,” she said.

She said some of them arrived in Tarlac in 1992 when she was governor. “I asked them why they wanted to migrate to Tarlac and they answered that they were tired of war and decided to go to Tarlac because they knew the governor would be sympathetic to them,” she said.

“I built a small mosque for them and madrasas for the children’s education. [They] were integrated with Kapampangans, Ilocanos and Pangasinenses through their efforts by selling DVDs and toys in the market. Some went all the way to Isabela [province] and [other parts of] Cagayan Valley region to look for their relatives and market their goods, being merchants and businessmen from Lanao del Sur,” she said. —TONETTE OREJAS