2 senators warn of bias vs Muslims

Two senators tagged as discriminatory a proposal by police and some local government units to impose an ID system for Muslims.

Senators Sherwin Gatchalian, a member of the Senate majority, and Bam Aquino, of the minority bloc, said the ID system would single out Muslims.

In a statement, Gatchalian said the proposal would violate the constitutional rights of Muslims.

Aquino said branding Muslims as potential threats would not make communities safer “but will only sow animosity.”

The two were reacting to the implementation by officials of Paniqui, Tarlac, of an ID system to root out people with terror links and a statement attributed to the Department of the Interior and Local Government and Philippine National Police Chief Ronald Dela Rosa encouraging it.

“Our law-abiding Muslim brothers and sisters are not the enemy,” said Gatchalian.

Aquino said while an ID system would be useful to Filipinos, “let us not use it to discriminate sectors.”

“Let’s use properly the ID system,” Aquino said.

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