Just three days after the bile directive by Philippine National Police (PNP) constables in Makati that aimed to profile trans women via “Oplan X-Men,” here’s another questionable move by them: profiling Muslim students in Metro Manila.
[READ: Harassment disguised as “Oplan X-men” isn’t going to fool us]The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) yesterday released a copy of a memorandum dated Jan. 31 being circulated among cops directing them to “submit an updated list of Muslim students in high school, college and universities in National Capital Region as part of peacebuilding and counter violent extremism of PNP.”
In a Facebook post, ACT condemned this saying, “targeting Muslim students in counterterrorism seminars reeks of the police’s ignorance and Islamophobia and schools should not allow themselves to be utilized for such or any other counterinsurgency measures by the PNP.”
“It is deplorable that the PNP would want to target these young Muslim students to supposedly counter violent extremism, which is short of saying that Muslims are more likely to become extremists or terrorists. But the reality is, these students and our schools have nothing to do with the government’s wars, and therefore should not be used as avenues in the furtherance of such. It should remain zones of peace, free of police and military intrusion,” said ACT National Chairperson Joselyn Martinez.
Not new
Police Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), confirmed that the memorandum was legitimate but denied that it was meant for profiling.
Note that the directive asks for an “updated” list indicating that there has been previous surveying.
According to Police Maj. Gen. Sinas, the statistical information would be used by the Salaam Police Center (SPC), a unit established in 2008 under the Directorate for Police Community Relations (DPCR), which closely monitors and coordinate networking and liaisoning activities with Muslim communities in “addressing terrorism and lawless violence in their respective areas.”
The said list will be used “to conduct interventions and programs in strengthening Salaam Police in partnership with the community,” he said.
Based on the copy of the statistics ACT retrieved, PNP was able to get the total number of Muslim students as well as their gender and grade level.
The Department of Education has yet to comment on the issue.
Header photo courtesy of Lyn Rillon/Inquirer
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