Breaking Barriers to Citizenship for Muslim Minorities and Indigenous Peoples

In celebration of Civil Registration Month, the University of the Philippines Law Center Institute of Human Rights (UP IHR), in collaboration with Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Alternative Legal Services (IDEALS Inc.), organized the forum titled “Legal Identity for All: Breaking Barriers to Citizenship for Muslim Minorities and Indigenous Peoples,” held last 5 February 2025. The event served as a fitting celebration of Civil Registration Month by directly addressing the fundamental role of civil registration in ensuring legal identity and fostering equitable access to rights and services. The discussion tackled the difficulties faced by Indigenous Peoples, Muslim Minorities, and other marginalized groups in civil registration and highlighted best practices the country can employ toward creating inclusive, accessible, and efficient registration systems.

UP IHR Director Professor Elizabeth Aguiling-Pangalangan opened the forum by emphasizing the fundamental role of legal identity in upholding human dignity and ensuring access to basic rights such as housing, healthcare, education, social services, and justice, among others. It was followed by a panel discussion which introduced efforts on Civil Registration for marginalized groups, with Professor Aguiling-Pangalangan providing a regional perspective, while UP IHR Research Assistants Janessa Kudera and Mario Quimbo focused on a domestic perspective.

Sharing her role as the Philippine Representative to the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC), Professor Aguiling-Pangalangan highlighted how the lack of civil registration continues to hinder many marginalized groups in the Philippines from the full exercise of their human rights. Professor Aguiling-Pangalangan stressed the regional commitment to three goals: (1) universal civil registration of vital events; (2) accessible legal documentation of civil registration, and (3) accurate, complete, and timely vital statistics based on registration records. As such, best practices include mobile registration campaigns and digitalization of civil registration system among ASEAN countries.

Following Professor Aguiling-Pangalangan, UP IHR Research Assistants Ms. Kudera and Mr. Quimbo presented the various human rights violations due to the failure to register and the efforts to address it. Ms. Kudera outlined the Constitutional principles in the Philippines that safeguard the right to legal identity in relation to other fundamental rights such as education, marriage, employment, healthcare, and social protection. On the other hand, Mr. Quimbo discussed the role of the three pillars of civil registration—the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the Local Civil Registrars, and the Local Government Units—in streamlining registration systems and increasing public awareness.

The forum featured two panel discussions inviting voices from the field. The first explored the Improving Access to Birth Registration for Indigenous Groups in Eastern Mindoro (IBRIDGE) Project in Mindoro, a project dedicated to improving access to birth registration for indigenous groups and remote communities. Mangyan Community Registration Volunteer Teresita Limpapoy, Municipal Civil Registrar in Gloria, Oriental Mindoro Manuelito Rodriguez, and Project Manager of IBRIDGE Mindanao Atty. Rosalie Abude provided an overview of the challenges in civil registration: long travel distances to registration offices, lack of proper documentation, language barriers, and financial constraints. Ms. Limpapoy emphasized the difficulties encountered by civil registration assistants, including individuals not knowing their exact birth date or place of birth, reliance on seasonal indicators for age estimation, and the lack of required documents to process registration requests. Rodrigues shared firsthand experiences of how many Mangyan individuals remain unaware of the importance of birth registration until it becomes necessary for schooling or social services. Atty. Abude highlighted technical challenges, such as issues with omnibus certifications and the lack of funding for negative certifications. Project Manager of IBRIDGE Mindoro Maria Consuelo Cosculla underscored the importance of building trust with Indigenous communities to address these barriers.

The second panel discussed Promoting Equal Access to Civil Enlistment for Former Combatants and Internally Displaced Persons in BARMM (PEACE) Project. Mr. Mohamad Ali Khalid Malaco, a decommissioned Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) member, highlighted the historical injustices and land disputes fueling the Bangsamoro struggle, emphasizing the barriers to civil documentation due to security risks, financial constraints, and lack of awareness. He underscored the need for sustained government support for legal identity programs and improvements in the MILF decommissioning process. Ms. Michelle Sandigan Mohamad shared the struggles of internally displaced persons (IDPs), detailing the hardships of evacuation, land dispossession, and financial instability. She stressed the impact of the project in bringing civil registration services directly to remote communities, easing the burden on displaced families. Mr. Marco Bayadog discussed the project’s role in assisting survivors of disasters and conflicts, including the Marawi Siege, through legal documentation initiatives such as Project REBUILD and Solid BARMM. These projects have helped tens of thousands of IDPs, Indigenous Peoples, and decommissioned combatants secure legal identity, reinforcing the importance of birth registration in accessing essential services and rebuilding lives.

Finally, the forum ended with a panel on government responses to civil registration challenges. Civil Register Management Division Emilio Querubin highlighted the PSA’s Birth Registration Assistance Project, which aims to register 3.6 million unregistered Filipinos. However, challenges persist, including frequent migration among Indigenous Peoples, language barriers, limited manpower in local civil registry offices, and difficulties verifying records. To this, Mr. Querubin aims to streamline processes and improve record accessibility through full digitalization of civil registration. Director Ishmael Bahjin of the Social Healing and Peacebuilding Office of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity (OPAPRU) emphasized civil registration as a peacebuilding tool, particularly for MILF and MNLF combatants undergoing decommissioning. While progress has been made, thousands remain undocumented due to slow implementation and funding constraints. Strengthening partnerships with PSA, Civil Society Organizations, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is crucial for success. Commissioner Atty. Faydah Maniri Dumarpa of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) focused on stateless persons and Persons of Filipino Descent (PFDs), particularly the Sama Bajaus, who face severe challenges in obtaining legal identity. Without documentation, they are denied basic rights and are vulnerable to detention and deportation. The CHR made a global pledge at the Global Refugee Forum to work toward ending statelessness, and have collaborated with Indonesia and Malaysia’s NHRIs to address statelessness and to prioritize humanitarian solutions over political conflicts regarding nationality claims.

UP IHR Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program lead and project head Atty. Raymond Marvic C. Baguilat and University Researcher Atty. James Villasis moderated the panels, while Ms. Maiko Ng, Mr. Karl Jigo Tagorda, and Ms. Dionne Calosa served as the program hosts.