BANGSA

BANGSAMORO SOLIDARITY

Masikap St. Pinyahan , Quezon City

Press Statement

January 30, 2008

ID SYSTEM IN SULU TOWN

Bangsamoro Solidarity or Bangsa strongly questions the legality of the imposition of this ID SYSTEM. They claim that it has no constitutional and/ or statutory basis. There was no proper consultation and it did not pass through the local legislative body.

Despite being met by protests over its alleged repercussions on civil rights and the issue still hotly debated in Congress, the military has already implemented the ID SYSTEM in Sulu, particularly for the people of Patikul town.

Accordingly the purpose is to stamp out terrorism as this could be a potent tool against it. The system would furthermore help our government organize the local communities. The implementation being coordinated with National Statistics Office would also be helpful to the residents in their transactions with the government, and with the system being effective in so many ways, the provincial is now even pushing for its – province wide implementation.

IDPs status or the people in conflict areas are also being questioned as to how it would be implemented on them. Overall, the mechanism of its issuance and implementation is not at all clear.