Muslims to declare war if Baclaran mosque is demolished

MANILA, Philippines - Muslims in Baclaran, Pasay City said yesterday they will turn their community into a war zone if the government pushes through with its plan to demolish their Grand Mosque to give way to casinos and other commercial establishments.

Following reports that the mosque will be demolished this month, Abdelmanan Tanandato, leader of the Samahan ng Nagkakaisang Nademolis sa Roxas Boulevard, said, “If there are children, elderly, and women who will get hurt in the demolition, we will fight them to death.”

He said the community is prepared to form a human barricade around the mosque to protect it from the demolition team.

According to Tanandato, the mosque is the third biggest mosque in Metro Manila. He said it took them three years to reclaim the three-hectare area and build the mosque on it.

“We are saddened that the Philippine Reclamation Authority is now claiming the land and that the court allows PRA to have full possession of the lot for commerce, luxury housing and casinos,” he said.

The Task Force Anti-Eviction, composed of various people’s groups and non-government organizations such as the Urban Poor Associates (UPA), Community Organizers Multiversity and Community Organization of the Philippine Enterprise Foundation, has asked the government to defer the demolition.
“The government should reflect on its plan to pursue the demolition of the mosque now that Ramadan is approaching,” the group said.

Muslims believe that a person is twice saved if he or she dies during Ramadan defending Islam.

“The Muslim people believe it is God’s will that they defend the mosque. The government should allow the mosque to stay, let it remain amid the infrastructure projects that will be built,” said Ted Añana, deputy coordinator of UPA.

The UPA also said ABA AKO party-list Rep. Leonardo Montemayor recently sent a letter to PRA general manager Andrea Domingo, requesting the agency to defer the eviction of the Muslims living in the reclaimed three-hectare area, particularly in the light of Ordinance 4411, which declared a moratorium on demolitions, and pending court cases involving the property.

The UPA also said the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), a Geneva-based international human rights group, shares their concern over the imminent eviction of the Muslim community, which its representatives last visited in 2007.

“COHRE has already raised this case with the government of the Philippines and at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, and will again be writing to concerned Philippine authorities in order to urge them to respect their obligations under international human rights law,” said Dan Nicholson, Asia Pacific program coordinator of COHRE.

The UPA said the demolition stemmed from a memorandum dated May 26 issued by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita that allegedly indicated that President Arroyo has instructed concerned government agencies to relocate the mosque.

The UPA said that in 2007, the PRA conducted a demolition drive in the area. In June 2008, the UPA said hundreds of Muslims, armed with wooden clubs, fought off another demolition team.