98 islamization of education in the philippines

Islamization of Education in the Philippines

Alizaman D. Gamon

Introduction

Every society, whether it is simple or complex, has a distinctive pattern of transmitting culturalvalues and norms to it

s young and potential members. Some people have used the instrumentality of education as thecentral nerve of a community’s existence not only for the preservation of their cultural values butalso to impose such on others. The imposition of alien cultures and values and its impact arestill apparent in most Muslim societies. It has directly or indirectly influenced the writings ofMuslim intellectuals particularly in the field of education. This is quite obvious in their emphasison the development and importance of society, politics and law rather than individual, mind orthe soul. The characteristics of an ideal society and the foundation of education as envisagedby Islam were challenged by Western theories and philosophies. Not to exaggerate the socialrealities that Muslim communities are now experiencing, some writers observed that Muslimshave enslaved their body and soul to their respective colonial masters. Prior to the emergenceof Islamic revivalism in the Muslim world, the basic structures of Islamic education areconstantly revised and changed following the popular trends and changes coming from thewest.

We have witnessed the plight of the Muslims in the Philippines who have been struggling onhow could the flame of faith, the light of spiritual life and faithfulness to the teaching of Islam canbe preserved in environments which are grounded with secular philosophy of life. Muslimintellectuals in the Philippines have shown their unwavering aspirations and concerns towardstransforming Islamic education as an instrument to the save the Muslim Filipino communitiesfrom the malady of Western education. The ongoing process of globalization and itsmanifestations in the Philippine educational system have been regarded by most Muslim

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Filipinos as a new form of colonialism. Its impact in the society marks the beginning of a newepisode of intellectual “tag of war” between Muslim and Christian in the Philippines. MuslimFilipinos, particularly those who lived in non-Muslim areas are gradually assimilated to seculareducation which challenges the foundation of Moro identity.

It has always been the aspiration of every Muslim educator to witness the revival of Islam in thePhilippines through Islamization of Islamic institutions which were instrumental in the past inuniting people despite of their socio-cultural and historical diversity. A part of this unrelentingoptimism of the Muslim Filipinos have come into reality when the government reconsider itspolicy by developing the Muslims’ Islamic educational system through the establishment ofIslamic institutions of higher learning and the implementation of related laws providing theteaching of Arabic language both in private and public schools and the accreditation andintegration of madÉris to the national educational system. The government’s developmentpolicy to the Muslims is based on the Constitution of the Philippines which specifically providesthat: “The state shall consider the customs, beliefs and interests of national culturalcommunities in the formulation and implementation of state policies” (Section II, Article XV). Theeducation act of 1982 (Batas Pambansa 232) recognizes the need to promote the right of thecultural communities to relevant education to make them participate increasingly in nationaldevelopment.(1) Section 3, paragraph 8 of the Act states: “The State shall promote the right ofthe national cultural communities in the exercise of their right to develop themselves within thecontext of their cultures, traditions, interest, beliefs and recognizes education as an instrumentfor their maximum participation in national development and in ensuring their involvement inachieving national unity.”

As a touchstone for its state policies in recognizing the need to consider the Islamic educationof the Muslims and their culture as part of the Filipino culture, the government established thefollowing programs: the Commission on National Integration, the Mindanao State University, theInstitute of Islamic Studies under the University of the Philippines, the MSU- SharÊ‘ah Center,the King Faisal Center for Arabic and Islamic Studies, the Code of Muslim Personal Laws (P.D.1083) and the creation of SharÊ‘ah courts as part of the national judiciary system. In line withthe implementation of this law, the government recognized the institution of six units ofSharÊ‘ah Law in the Bachelor of Laws degree offered by the MSU, College of Law and theIslamic Jurisprudence course offered in other state universities. The establishments of theseinstitutions are based on the philosophy and aims of the Philippine education as mentioned inthe Constitution that all educational institutions shall be under the supervision of, and subject toregulation by the state (Sec. 8 of article XV).

Among other steps taken by the government to promote the Islamic education of the Muslimsare the issuance of Letter of Instruction (LOI) No. 71-A which allow and authorize the use ofArabic as a medium of instruction in schools and or areas in the Philippines where the use

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thereof so permits and the LOI-1221 which allow the accreditation and integration of themadrasah in the Philippine Educational system. The most notable development issued by the government for Muslim education in the South isthe power vested on the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) as stipulated insection 1 of Article XIV of R.A. 9054, otherwise, known as the Expanded ARMM law that, “theregional government shall establish, maintain, and support as a top priority a complete andintegrated system of quality education and adopt an educational framework that is meaningful,relevant and responsive to the needs, ideals and aspirations of the people in the region.” Withthis, the Muslim Mindanao Act No. 14 provides for the accreditation of madÉris in the regionalsystem of education in a manner that such schools be supported to make them part of nationaleducational standards. In addition to this, other regional laws were implemented, seminars andconferences have been called and taskforce and councils have been created to accommodateand to strengthen the madÉris in recognition of its contribution to the Muslim youths, the MuslimUmmah and the nation.

There are queries raised on the sincerity of the government in establishing these programsconsidering their long delayed implementation. Some of these programs had been issued andtechnically in effect for many years without any administrative machinery to enforce them. Various researches have been done about the Muslim education in Mindanao and studiesrevealed that only minimal improvement had been done in a span of almost two decadesdespite the concerted efforts of the government by introducing educational programs in MuslimMindanao.

A Glimpse on the Historical Development of Islamic Education in the Philippines

The Muslims in the Philippines, just like many Muslim minorities in non-Islamic states has had along history in asserting rights for recognition of Islamic education and cultural values. Problemson Islamic education started when the Spaniards used the schools “as instruments forcolonization and subjugation as well as to proselytize.” With an advance civilization brought tothem by Islam, the Muslims did not fall under the hands of the Spaniards. During Spanish rule,not a single Western type of school was established in the Muslim communities by theSpaniards. The pandita schools which later became the madÉris became the dominanteducational institution in the Muslim areas. Because of Spanish hatred to Islam(2) and theirfailure to subjugate the Muslims, they destroyed the Qur’an and other Arabic manuscripts theyhad found in the Philippines. They used the Christian Filipinos to spread terror in Muslim areasand described the Moros as barbarous born of violence. The Spaniards also succeeded inpoisoning the minds of the Christian Filipinos against the Muslim Filipinos. As a result of this, awall of misunderstanding and hatred had been created between the two groups and continue to

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exist anywhere even in places they have lived together for a long time.

The Moro problem is nothing new. It is a problem that receives an adequate attention in thelocal and international press for almost two decades. There were many authors who havewritten in detail the Moro struggles and defined the problem in various ways. The Philippinegovernment and Christian Filipinos in general, defined it as the Muslims’ backwardness in allaspects of life, economic, political, social and education. This view can hardly be considered ashistorical evidence shows that even before the coming of the Spaniards the Muslims hadalready developed their own civilization, whose laws, social organization, government, alphabet,system of education, navigational skills, trade, industry, and commerce setting them apart fromthe rest of the Philippines.(3) It sounds unfair to consider that the failure of the Muslims to excelin Western or secular education can be backwardness in all those aspects.

Aside from robbing the Muslim lands and making them an oppressed minority in their owncommunity, the programs and development given by the government to the Christian settlerswere not extended to the Muslims. The government faithfully provided the educational, healthand agricultural programs to Christian squatter and did nothing to the Muslims. A ChristianFilipino author emphasized the insincerity or lack of foresight of the government on the Muslimeducation in the past as follows:

“Another area of neglect committed by Philippine government is failure to provide the Moros theeducational opportunities and structures consistent with their Islamic culture and tradition. Whilein the case of (Christian) settlers (in Cotabato) provision for their educational needs was amplygiven, the children of the Moros were not given as much attention. The curriculum of theschools established were patterned, understandably, upon the needs and concerns of theChristian settlers. Yet the government expected these schools to be the primary vehicle for theintegration of the Moros for the mainstream of Philippine culture.”(4) This observation confirmed not only the irrelevant curriculum made by the government expertsbut the government intention of producing an educated Christian and not an educated MuslimFilipino. That the former government Christian administrators never had sympathy and oftenhostile to the Muslims’ aspirations to have their own Islamic values they cherished to be passedon to their children. Aside from an irrelevant curriculum, the government had neglected thenumber of schools, the educational facilities and the educational quality of Muslim people. It isnot surprising that the Muslim parents refused to send their children to public schools and then,perceived by the Christian Filipinos as “backwardness.” It is not a wonder, then, that in the pastsome Muslims refused to be identified as Filipinos and they considered the Philippinegovernment as goberno a sarwang a tao (foreign government).

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Muslims’ backwardness in secular education became the central source of the conflict. TheCongressional Committee of 1954 reported that “more than any other factor involved which hadgiven rise to the so-called Moro problem is the educational phase, for if the Muslims had beenprepared and their ignorance which is the root cause of their problem had been wiped out byeducation and an educational policy calculated to erase and do away with all barriers betweenthe Christian and the Muslims of the country, little, if any at all, would be such problems aseconomic, social, and political which now face the government.”(5) The problem with thegovernment was the fact that the Christian officers assumed that whatever educational policyimplemented by them will be sound and acceptable to the Muslims without considering theirIslamic culture and values. The Muslims leaders had been demanding for a change ofeducational policy by having a relevant curriculum in Muslim areas, but the governmentcontinued to ignore it without making any change at all. A long standing demand for theinstitutionalization of the madÉris as an autonomous component of the Philippine educationalsystem was continued to ignore by the government. In fact it was only in 1973 that thegovernment seriously considers finding a solution to the Mindanao problem through thedevelopment of Islamic education. The government realized that used of forced can be a failure,while education may succeed in pacifying the Muslims.

Government Recognition on the Importance of Islamic Education

The government’s development policy towards Muslims in the Philippines is concentrated onintegrating them through education. Despite the changeable politics in the Philippines, theIslamic education of the Muslim minority continues to improve. Its change and growth can beseen in the educational programs implemented by the government in Muslim Mindanao sinceearly 1970. With these developments, Islamic consciousness has grown up as Islamic institutesof high learning had been established, some madÉris have been accredited by the government,SharÊ‘ah law has been offered in other government universities and Islamic studies and Arabiclanguage have been taught in public and private schools in certain regions. For the government,the success of the Islamic educational projects would forge national solidarity and heightenedthe Islamic sophistication of the Muslims, as some scholars believed that Islam could be usedas an instrument for modernizing its followers.

The development of the Islamic education in the Philippines became an important instrument insolving the so-called Muslim Problem in the Philippines. It helps to ease the tensions that markthe nagging Muslim government relation which has already accounted for the loss of thousandsof lives and property, millions of money and psychological chasm among the people. Thegovernment was aware of the situation and in order to face the problem, the state embarked onthe following programs as a touchtone of its policy of integration:

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1.) Commission on National Integration

The first educational program created by the government was through the Commission onNational Integration (CNI). This Commission was created under Republic Act No. 1888(amended by R.A. No. 3858) on June 22, 1957, purposely “to accelerate the progress ofMuslims politically, economically and to promote their incorporation into the nation’s governmentand social systems.”(6) Ironically, young Muslims from different tribes who were educatedthrough this government scholarship became politically conscious of the positions of Muslimcommunities and also gave them a chance to form an organization to set aside ethnic andlinguistic differences in order to attain a common Islamic identity.

The CNI was abolished in 1975 for failure to achieve its main objective, “the Moro integrationinto mainstream of national body-politic.” To mention some of the reasons for its failure are:First, the government’s paternalistic approach toward the cultural minorities reaffirmed ratherthan alleviated the cultural minorities from their disadvantage position.(7) Second, theauthorities failed to follow an effective strategy to solve the critical problem of inter-groupbetween the Muslims and Christian Filipinos. Third, the policy of integration caused genocidaleffects to the Muslims. According to Peter G. Gowing and Robert D McAmis, “The policy of thePhilippine Government toward Muslim Filipinos is integration not genocide, but certain featuresof the integration policy are genocidal in their effects...they (Muslims) fear the philosophy behindthe integration policy because it is really a philosophy of assimilation…(which was) resisted bythe Muslim Filipinos precisely because it threatens psychological genocide, which in many waysis more difficult to contemplate than physical genocide.”(8)

2.) Mindanao State University (MSU)

The Mindanao State University was the first state school established by the government toprovide high education for Mindanao residents in a Muslim area. MSU has been establishedwith the following goals: 1) To perform the traditional functions of a University such asinstruction, research and extension services; 2) To help accelerate the program of integrationamong the peoples of Southern Philippines, particularly the Muslims and other culturalminorities; and 3) To provide trained manpower skills and technical knowledge for the economicdevelopment of the Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan (MINSUPALA) regions.(9)

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MSU is truly an academic institution of higher learning which provides a special opportunity foryoung Muslims to pursue their secular education, side-by-side with their Arabic and Islamicstudies. To meet the educational needs of the Muslims, the MSU was officially transformed intouniversity system based on Executive order No. 3. This Order reorganized the entire MSUsystem by extending its colleges and established six external units in all four political regions inSouthern Philippines, namely: MSU- Iligan, MSU-General Santos, MSU-Maguindanao,MSU-Tawi-Tawi, MSU-Jolo and MSU-Naawan. All the external units, except Iligan and Naawanare offering the baccalaureate program in Islamic Studies major in Islamic law andjurisprudence and Islamic History. To ensure the University’s commitment in the preservation ofthe Muslim Filipino culture, the University created the Research Center to conduct research topreserve the rich culture of the Muslims. The rapid development of the University includes theestablishment of the King Faisal Center for Arabic and Islamic Studies, the College of Law witha permit to offer a SharÊ‘ah course, and the SharÊ‘ah Center. The MSU College of Lawsuccessfully produced a numbers of civil and SharÊ‘ah lawyers and judges to the SharÊ‘ahcourts.

3.) King Faisal Center for Islamic, Arabic and Asian Studies

King Faisal Center for Islamic, Arabic and Asian Studies (KFCIAS), formerly known as theInstitute of Asian and Islamic (Arabic) Studies was established in 1973, as a separate academicunit of the Mindanao State University. This Center was established primarily for the purpose ofpromoting Arabic, Islamic and Asian studies in the Muslim areas of Southern Philippines so asto hasten the social, cultural and economic upliftment of the Muslims and other culturalminorities and to facilitate their integration into the mainstream of the national body politic.

As such the Center seeks to emphasize Islam not only as part of the rich Philippine culture butalso as a complete way of life which is consistent with all important scientific endeavor andtechnical competence. At present, the KFCIAS is offering the master in Islamic Studies, major in Muslim Law forpostgraduate studies. This program is open to graduates of bachelors degree in Islamic studiesand to holders of any baccalaureate degree who finished at least a secondary (Thanawiyah)diploma from any reputable madrasah in the Philippines or abroad, provided, however that anapplicant must satisfy the requirements prescribed by the MSU graduate school and that he isable to speak and write English. This program is designed to produce skillful graduates inMuslim law who can serve not only as judges of the SharÊ‘ah courts but also as practitionerstherein and as future scholars and researchers in the field of Islamic law and jurisprudence tohelp mould a just and progressive Muslim society in Muslim Mindanao.

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For baccalaureate, the Center is offering the following courses: 1)Bachelor of Arts in IslamicStudied, major in Islamic History and Islamic Law and Jurisprudence; 2)Bachelor of Science inTeaching Arabic; and 3) Bachelor of Science in International Relations. Aside from thesecourses, there are extension projects conducted by the KFCIAS in promoting its goals andobjectives as an Islamic educational institution of higher learning. Some of them are: 1)SpecialCourse on Islam for Professional and Students; 2) Pre-School Program; 3) Special Course forImams; 4) Special Course in Bahasa Malaysia; and 5) Special Qur’an Reading class forbeginners and advanced Reading for students.

4.) MSU-SharÊÑah Center

The Mindanao State University established the SharÊ‘ah Center through the Board of Regents(BOR) Resolution No. 210, series of 1982, in recognition of the on-going and growing interestand concern for Islamic Law in the Philippines. With the signing into law in 1977 of PresidentialDegree No. 1083, otherwise known as the Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines,the subsequent opening of the College of Law at the Mindanao State University in 1981 whichoffers SharÊ‘ah subjects, and the offering of a bachelor’s degree in SharÊ‘ah and a masteralprogram in Muslim Personal Laws by the MSU-King Faisal Center for Islamic and ArabicStudies, the SharÊ‘ah center is conceived to help in intensifying knowledge and understandingof Islamic Law and Jurisprudence. The center is also tasked to assist the College of Law andthe King Faisal Center in the research, preparation and development of teaching and readingmaterials for SharÊ‘ah subjects. In the same manner, the center is envisioned to serve as asupport institution to the SharÊ‘ah Courts in the better understanding and smoothimplementation of the Code of Muslim Personal Laws.

The major program conducted by the Center is the SharÊ‘ah education and the legal outreachprogram. Under this program, the SharÊ‘ah Center will sponsor the following activities:trainings, long and short-term courses, lecture series, seminars and conferences. It also servesto offer counseling and consultation services on SharÊ‘ah legal matters. To achieve its goalsand make it as the leading SharÊ‘ah research institution in the country, it created the SharÊ‘ahresearch program to study the branches of the Shari‘ah law, the ‘adat laws and their relevanceto the Philippine laws and to annotate the cases decided by the Philippine SharÊ‘ah courts. Thepublication program of the Center is designed for the publication of researches, studies andproceedings conducted under the continuing SharÊ‘ah Education and Legal Outreach Programand the SharÊ‘ah Research Program.

The SharÊ‘ah Center has established a link with various governments and private institutionsand agencies, more particularly with the Law Center of the University of the Philippines, the

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Integrated Bar of the Philippines, the Supreme Court, the Philippine SharÊ‘ah Courts and theOffice of Muslim Affairs, with the principal aim of starting the gigantic task of collating, shiftingand reconciling SharÊ‘ah principles and the Philippine legal system. Likewise, the Center willkeep on developing its link with other Islamic international Institutions, organizations andfoundations in Southeast Asia and Middle East.

5.) Institute of Islamic Studies – University of the Philippines

The Institute of Islamic Studies was created as an integral part of the Philippine Center forAdvanced Studies (PCAS), through, Presidential Degree 342 on Nov. 22, 1973. With theabolition of the Center by Executive order No. 543 issued by the President of the Philippines, onJuly 9, 1979, the Institute was re-established as a separate unit of the University of thePhilippine.

The Institute was established with the aim of providing the university students, both Muslimsand non-Muslims, an opportunity to participate more fully in nation life and development. Morespecifically, it intends to create deeper understanding and more rapport between the Muslims ofthe Philippines and the rest of the University of the Philippines national community. Moreover, itaims to shed light on certain portions of Philippine history and to place in proper perspective therole of the Islamic cultural heritage in shaping the Philippines and neighboring Southeast Asiancountries. It is envisioned that the Institute will serve as a meeting place for scholars interestedin Islamic history and culture from Asia and other parts of the world.(10)

The Institute of Islamic Studies provides both graduate and undergraduate courses on Islamicstudies. In accordance with its regulations an applicant for admission should have at least abachelor’s degree and it is preferable if he is competent in Arabic. Students who have nobackground in Arabic and Islamic studies shall take the Elementary and Intermediary Arabic aswell as of undergraduate courses in Islamic studies. To meet the Institute’s objectives and to realize the government’s desire to see its Muslimconstituents integrated with the national body-politic through education, the Institute renders thefollowing services:

1. Conduct of lecture series whenever necessary on Islamic history, law and religion includingcontemporary events affecting the lives of Muslim Filipinos;2. Undertaking of commissioned researches regarding Muslim communities, Islamic heritageand compilation of said data;

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3. Translation of documents from English or Tagalog to a local ethnic language, viz., Tausug,Maranao, Maguindanao, Sama and Yakan;4. Publication of IIS Newsletter (Sahiyfah), journal and occasional papers/monographs; and5. Extension services on areas of Faculty competence.

The Policy of Integration and its Implications to Islamic Education

The Integration policy assumed that a unified curriculum, common textbooks and unifiedpolicies, combined to efforts to increase Muslim Filipinos’ access to secular education, wouldgradually resolve Muslim- Christian Tensions. The secular approach adopted by thegovernment in dealing with the educational needs of the Muslim Filipinos such as theestablishment of CNI, MSU, Institute of Islamic Studies-UP had failed to resolve the conflictbetween Muslim and Christians in the Philippines.

It has been observed by few authors that integration has long been rejected by the Morosbecause they suspect it as the euphemistic equivalent of assimilation, a subtle form of‘de-Muslimization or [de-Islamization’] of the younger generation of Muslims, or worse, a veneerfor a round–about route towards Christianization of malleable youth ...in the conception andunderstanding of the Philippine government the national culture is defined as the Christianculture and therefore integration really means assimilation of the Muslims into the Christianculture. But despite the determination of the Muslims to resist the government policy onintegration, Muslim educators worked hard enough in pushing the Muslim youths to takeadvantage of the new educational opportunities offered by the government.

Among other reasons for the Philippine government to change its policy in the South can beattributed to the concern of the ASEAN members and the close attention from other Muslimstates. It is a fact that religious sentiment from the Muslim world gave a strong strength to theMuslim Filipinos’ struggle. Despite the Philippines’ propaganda that the Mindanao problem wasin no sense a religious conflict, the “Islamic Conference Organization has never wavered in itsmoral support for the justice of the Muslim Filipinos cause and has sought to use its influencefor a just solution to the Mindanao problem.”(11)

Some people believed and viewed the development programs as a way “to heal the wounds”caused by the injustices of the national government and the Christian populace to the Muslimsin the Philippines South. The national policy makers know how much the Muslims have beenaggrieved by the failure of the government to provide them an education in accordance with

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their Islamic culture and tradition. A Muslim educator pointed out, “it is in this field where there isa consensus among Muslims that they were treated indifference, if not outright neglect by theirgovernment. They believe that there exist inequities in educational resources and opportunities,particularly in terms of the availability of schools from the lowest to the highest levels.” (12)Perhaps, the resolutions made by Muslim leaders before the Philippines’ Senate to develop theneglected education of the Muslims also helped to convince the government to change itseducational policy in the Muslim autonomous regions, particularly in the establishment of thoseinstitutions where Islamic and Arabic studies can be offered. It is a fair move on thegovernment, since in most of its neighboring countries like Singapore and Thailand; theirrespective government allowed and authorized the teaching of Islamic and Arabic studies incertain schools and universities in areas predominantly occupied by the Muslim minorities.

The government’s decision in creating the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)can be identified as a sign of good response to satisfy the Muslim aspiration within the spirit ofreligious freedom as well as cultural diversity in a unitary state. In fact, the autonomy was a partof the seductive package of promises mentioned in the 1976 Tripoli agreement between theMoro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Philippine Government. However, the longpromised implementation was only granted on November 1990. The government offered a highly captivating and appealing model of development to theMuslims only at the time when confronted and pressured by the following events: First, whenthe OIC became seriously concerned with the Moro problem, particularly in “recognizing theright of the Muslims in Southern Philippines to present their problem to the concernedinternational fora and to avail them all possible political support in this respect, if thegovernment of the Philippines does not respect its commitment to resume negotiations with aview to draw up protocols for the implementation of the Tripoli agreement; (13) Second, to winover the trust of the Muslim masses and their traditional leaders;(14) Third, the government wasstriving to have a better image to the Muslim world and ASEAN members in order to leave theMNLF and other Muslim movements to be crippled by losing its foreign aid; and fourth,integration of Muslim Filipinos to the Philippines’ national political life resting on the principle of“one nation, one ideology.”

There are other people who still believed that the Philippine government developed the Islamiceducation through the establishment of a few institutions and the implementation of somerelated laws, necessarily, not for the realization of the aspiration of the Muslim Filipinos todevelop and enhance their education in Islamic and Arabic studies but as a grudgingconcession and may be an expedient measure of secularizing the Muslim youths. Some Moves towards Revitalizing Islamic Education in the ARMM

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The Philippine government allowed and authorized the development, accreditation andintegration of madrasah as an institution of learning through Letter of Instruction (LOI, No.1221). It was the first law issued by the Philippine government for gradual integration of themadrasah to the national educational system. This law was issued on March 31, 1982, directingthe Prime Minister, members of the cabinet, Minister of Education, Culture and Sports toformulate and adopt program to develop the madrasah and facilitate its integration as a sectorof the national educational system. The implementation of LOI 1221 is based on Article XV,Section 8 (1) of the Philippine Constitution which provides that the government shall establishand maintain a complete, adequate and integrated system of education relevant to the goals ofnational development. In line with this, the government allowed and authorized the accreditationand integration of Islamic religious schools into the national educational system as aninstrument for Muslims maximum participation in nation building to achieve the nationaldevelopment goals and unity.

The LOI 1221 has three salient features (15) First, it is the intention of the LOI that themadrasah should retain its Islamic identity. This means that Arabic language and Islam asreligion should be retained in the madrasah curriculum. Second, it is the intention of the LOI thatthe teaching staff of madrasah be improved. Third, the madrasah will be part of the nationaleducational system and as such, it should align itself with the system. The realignment shouldbe initially centered on curricular revision so that maximum educational goals could be attainedby the madrasah.

Another notable step taken by the government that helps to improve the status of the Islamiceducation in the Philippines was the creation of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao(ARMM). It was created by virtue of Republic Act 6734, otherwise known as the Organic Act forMuslim Mindanao and signed into law on November 19, 1990. Autonomy for Muslim Mindanaohas been defined as “the constitutional arrangements granting a degree of freedom to (theMuslim Filipinos) a racial, religious, linguistics, ethnic, tribal or cultural group to order its ownaffairs… closely aligned with the principles of self-rule and self-determination.(16) The powersvested to the Regional Assembly fulfill the Muslims’ aspirations, demands and expectations,particularly in shaping the educational policies of all schools in the Autonomous Region. By allindications, the Organic Act is the best legal mandate that can provide for an integrated systemof education where divine knowledge and human knowledge can be integrated.

The Muslim Mindanao Autonomy Act No. 14 had been enacted as the Educational Act of theAutonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. It states: “An act providing for a system education forthe Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, creating a Regional Department of Education,Culture and Sports, Appropriating funds therefore, and for other purposes.” Section 3 of this Act,clearly provides that the Regional Government shall accredit the madÉris and shall ensure theirintegration together with the private schools into the regional system of education which should

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be at par with national standard. One of the aims and purposes of the regional integratededucation system is to promote and strengthen the madÉris as an integral part of the regionaleducation program. It means the integration of Arabic language and Islamic studies in theregional public schools to improve student proficiency and understanding on Islamic values andculture. With this, the Muslim Mindanao Autonomy Act No. 14- created the Bureau of MadÉrisEducation to formulate, adopt and evaluate plans, programs, educational standards andcurricular designs related to Islamic philosophy, sociology, economics, culture, moral valuesand political science, and other related Islamic instructional materials.(17)

In truth, the accreditation of madÉris is just a grudging concession on the part of thegovernment because it was not only mentioned in the Tripoli Agreement but also enunciated inthe 1996 Final Peace Agreement between the Philippine Government and the MNLF. Duringthe First Policy conference for madÉris, the government promised to do about the proposals toimprove the madÉris based on the identified critical issues mentioned in the said conference.However, it is sad to say that what had been promised never comes true. Some of theproposed problems unfulfilled by the governments are: 1) To create an office for the madÉris inthe Department of Education, Culture and Sports central office to look into the welfare of themadÉris in the national level; and 2) Provision of a government loan fund to finance the physicalfacilities of the madrasah. Other problems that still hampered the full implementation of LOI1221 are: 1) Difficulty in adding Arabic and Islamic studies in the curriculum; 2) There is nomodel for accredited madÉris; 3) There were few madÉris that sought for accreditation; 4) Lackof coordination among madrasah operators; and 5) There are only few qualified teachers withsufficient trainings to teach in madrasah.(18)

It is hoped that the recent Executive Order 283, issued by President Macapagal Arroyo on the15th of February 2004, creating a Madrasah Development Coordinating Committee which shallbe responsible for the effective management of available financial assistance to the madrasahsystem from local, bilateral and multilateral institutions will be implemented immediately. Itwould be premature to pronounce that this Order will successfully improve the financial status ofthe madÉris. However, there are signs that the present government is striving to implementmore educational projects in Muslim Mindanao.

Reflections

The current developments of Islamic in the Philippines have undergone a radical change in thelast few decades. It was subjected to a pattern of developments unique on its own as a societywhich is not isolated by the global trend of Islamic thought and other external influences in theMuslim world. The integration of the Muslims into the Philippine colonial state had heavily

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shaped their socio-economic and political development as well as the direction and the qualityof Islamic education and its implications for the cultural renewal in the Muslim communities. Theagenda of reform of Islamic education became a terrain of contention between the Philippinegovernment and the Muslim intellectuals in particular. As part of the Philippine educationalpolicy of integration, the government grants no two systems under a unitary state. It is thesovereign rights of the government to regulate educational system affecting the majority as wellas the cultural minority. On the part of the Muslims, the formation of Islamic education must bedictated by set principles that are deeply grounded with the cultural values of Islam. And thus,the preservation, promotion and control of Islamic education should be regarded as theresponsibility of the Muslim intellectuals who can bring comprehensive transformation to thefield of education. It is the fear of the Muslim communities that if the reform of Islamic educationis patterned from the socio-political and ideological foundations of secularism, they mightexperience loss of identity as Muslims, and their aspiration and version of progress anddevelopment will remain unrealized.

Prior to the establishment of the Department of Education in ARMM (DepEd ARMM), theMinistry of Education in the Philippines had advocated a reform in education which is inaccordance with the framework of secularism, i.e the dichotomy of sacred and seculareducation common to every civil society in the West. The secular approach to education hasbeen mobilized by the government as an instrument to integrate the Muslims into themainstream socio-political and educational system of the Philippines. Meanwhile, the pages ofeducational journals and books related to the result of integration as experienced by theMuslims in the Philippines through education would suggest that those mechanism andmethodologies adopted by the government had remarkably failed to resolve the fundamentalgrounds of the decades of conflict between the Muslims and the Christians particularly inaddressing the issue on how to unify the two systems: Islamic and Secular system.

The ongoing transformation of Islamic education and its socio-political and religious implicationshas been viewed in different ways. It is quite obvious in the government’s policy that suchreform is a venue to inculcate into Muslim minds that they are Filipinos and they are part andparcel of the Philippine government. Thus, it is a means to enhance better understandingbetween the Muslims and Christians in the Philippines. However, Muslims intellectuals on theother hand, are scrutinizing its implications whether it is in conformity with the educationaltraditions of Islam. It is regarded as a new form of integration in which the Muslims arecontinuously challenged with new thoughts and philosophy about their genuine understandingof Islam. The Muslim response on the nature and implications of the current transformation ofIslamic education in the Philippines indicates a certain level of their understanding about thenature of the crisis in Muslim education in the world today. The dichotomy of secular andreligious education permeates their thoughts and activities, and their uncertainty of whatconstitutes an Islamic system of education perpetuates their continual frustration. The MuslimFilipinos’ aspirations and quests for cultural renewal through the medium of educational reform

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have been fading away with the advancement of secularism in the Philippines. It is theircommon belief that Muslim in the Philippines can be in better position to restore spiritual andmoral dimensions of modern life while continuing to be faithful and co-existing harmoniouslywith the non-Muslims provided they are granted with a favorable environment that cansubstantiate the universality of Islam. Transforming Islamic education can be right instrument forthe realization of this noble goal. There is no doubt that some Islamic institutions which were established under the jurisdiction ofARMM had meagerly contributed to the Islamization of education in the Philippines. TheDepartment of Education in ARMM lays emphasis on the need to reformulate an educationalsystem that can change the cultural image of Muslims in the Philippines. It is projected that theresult of this endeavor can create a new cultural paradigm that can transform Muslim societiesin accordance with the tradition of Islam as well as to create an impression upon thenon-Muslims that Islam is a religion of peace, a comprehensive system that accommodatesfavorable social change and development.

Endnotes

1. Lolita Rodriguez, A Madrasah General Education Program for Muslim Mindanao (secondprinting of published Ph.D thesis), 1993, p. 3.

2. This hatred was due to a long and bloody struggle against the Arabs and Moors of Spain.

3. Samuel Tan, Sulu Under the Eagle’s Shadow, 1899-1948, Mindanao Journal, Vol. 8, nos.1-4, 1981-1982. Cited in Luis Lacar, Neglected Dimensions in the Development of MuslimMindanao, 298.

4. Ibid, 304.

5. Excerpts from a report of the Congressional Committee of 1954 which conducted a study ofthe Moro Problem, quoted in Abdullah T. Madale, “Educating the the Muslim Child: ThePhilippine Case,” Nagasura Madale, ed.. The Muslim Filipinos ( Quezon City: Alemar-PhoenixPublishing House, Inc., 1981), 271.

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6. Majul, The Contemporary Muslim Movement in the Philippines (Manila: Saint Mary’sPublication, 1978), 32. 7. Kenneth E. Bauzon, Liberalism and the Quest for Islamic Identity, 71.

8. Peter G. Gowing and Robert D. McAmis, “Irresistible Forces, Immovable Objects,” in Gowingand McAmis, eds., The Muslim Filipinos (Manila: Solidaridad Publishing House), vii-viii.

9. Ahmad M. Hassoubah, An Educational Institution’s Attainment of its Goals: The Case ofMindanao State, Marawi City, School year 1993-94. (Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis) p. 47

10. UP-Institute of Islamic Studies, Information Brochure.

11. Peter Gowing, Religion and Regional Cooperation: The Mindanao Problem and ASEAN,Journal Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs, Vol. IV, 1982, No.1-2 . 19-20.

12. Batua Macaraya, Solutions to the Mindanao Conflict, 104-105.

13. Resolution No. 12 of the 10th Islamic Conference in Fez, Kingdom of Morocco, July8-12, 1979.

14. P. Gowing , Religion and Regional Cooperation, 16

15. Lolita Rodriguez, A Madrasah General Education Program for Muslim Mindanao, 110-111.

16. Tocod D. Macaraya Sr, ‘Meaningful Autonomy: The Key to Unity, Solidarity and NationalProgress,’ Apaper delivered during the First International Islamic Symposium for peace andSolidarity, held on August 7-9, 1989, Philippine Plaza Hotel, Manila-Philippines.

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17. Paper read by Salipada S. Tamano, during the First Mindanao Educators Congress,September 27-29, 1995, Garden Orchid Hotel, Zamboanga City.

18. Paper read by Salipada Tamano during the First Mindanao Educator Congress, September27-29, 1995, Garden Orchid Hotel , Zamboanga City.

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