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DAVAO CITY — Bangsamoro Member of Parliament and Education Minister Mohagher M. Iqbal has expressed the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education’s (MBHTE) preparedness to bring fruition the dreams of Muslim Filipinos to have their own higher Islamic institution.
Presently, Islamic schools in the country are mostly of the Sunday-school kind collectively put up by communities, and private madrasah schools funded by their owners and some donations from individual Muslims from abroad.
The case of Davao City which former President Rodrigo R. Duterte as then mayor for several terms is different. Duterte had put up a program that pays the salary of teachers of Islamic schools in the southern city.
In the case of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Iqbal’s ministry is preparing itself to embark on a historic initiative once the bill that would establish the country’s first higher Islamic institution receives approval in the Bangsamoro Parliament.
Iqbal said that Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Bill No. 31, filed by the Government of the Day, will provide a unique opportunity for Muslim Filipinos to immerse themselves in Islamic and Arabic studies.
The Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) states that the Parliament must enact legislation to develop and strengthen the Madaris educational system in the Bangsamoro region. “Madaris” is plural of madrasah (Islamic school).
The bill, covering eight pages and 28 sections, is designed to establish a Kuliyyah Institution in Buluan, Maguindanao del Sur, offering Islamic and Arabic Studies courses for both baccalaureate and postgraduate levels.
The Institute, as a higher education institution, will be directly supervised by the MBHTE, which also has regulatory authority over the profession.
Under the bill, the institution is envisioned to become a hub of knowledge and learning, catering to individuals seeking to deepen their understanding of Islamic principles, history, and culture.
Iqbal said that establishing an Islamic studies institution will not only reinforce the community’s educational foundation but will also develop a sense of identity and pride among Muslim Filipinos.
The Parliament’s Committee on Basic, Higher and Technical Education (CBHTE) conducted two rounds of public consultations in Davao City and Quezon City, gathering heads, experts, and representatives from various national government agencies, academic institutions, madaris, and civil society organizations at the national and regional level to give their inputs to enhance the proposed measure.
CBHTE Chair Prof. Eddie Alih said that the committee is optimistic about the bill’s passage this year, which would represent a major step in establishing the Bangsamoro Regional Institute of Higher Islamic Studies (BRIHIS).
Among the issues and concerns that were heavily discussed in the consultation process were the institution’s governing body, the powers of the Board of Trustees, and the qualifications of faculty members.
Resource persons who participated in the consultation recommended that the bill’s provisions be enhanced to establish the institution as a university rather than an ordinary institution. They emphasized that the proposed upgrade aims to elevate the institution’s status and academic offerings.
The Board of Trustees, as stipulated in the bill, will be instituted to serve as the Governing Body of the envisioned Institution, with the MBHTE’s Minister as chair, Madaris Education’s Director-General as vice chair, and the Institute’s President, the faculty association representative, and the Ulama representative as members.
The CBHTE has started deliberations on the bill to finalize the committee report that will be presented in the plenary in August.
Established in 2018 by the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) to implement the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the Bangsamoro region is made up of the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, the cities of Cotabato, Lamitan, and Marawi, as well as the Special Geographic Area’s (SGA) 63 barangays or villages that voted “Yes” in a plebiscite in February 2019 to be under the BARMM jurisdiction.
According to the Philippine Atlas BARMM has 4,404,288 people. It has 116 municipalities: Basilan, 11 municipalities; Lanao del Sur, 39; undivided Maguindanao, 36; Sulu, 19; and Tawi-Tawi, 11. Its component cities are Cotabato (the regional center and capital) in Maguindanao; Lamitan in Basilan; and Marawi in Lanao del Sur. (✓)
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Source:
LTAIS-Public Information, Publication, and Media Relations Division