MANILA - Recognizing her significant contributions to their empowerment, various Muslim leaders and organizations joined the nation in mourning the death and celebrating the life of democracy icon President Corazon Aquino.  

Exactly 20 years before her death on Saturday, President Aquino signed into law Republic Act No.6734, the Organic Act of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), on August 1, 1989.

President Aquino also gave the Muslims a strong voice in Congress.

“Cory’s contribution to the Filipino Muslim agenda was especially personal to me. Through her efforts, we had two national representatives in the Philippine Senate—Santanina Rasul and my late father Mamintal Tamano,” said Muslim lawyer Adel Tamano shared to abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak.

“She believed in empowerment and representation for Filipino Muslims. Her actions showed her commitment to democracy and her vision of a tolerant, multi-cultural and peaceful society is something that the new generation of Filipino Muslims will strive and aspire for,” Tamano added.

While President Aquino had a different religion, she embraced many of the values of Islam, said Maranao Samira Tomawis, former editor of The Moro Times and co-convenor of the Young Moro Professionals Network.

Islamic values

“The pain of Cory’s loss cuts across religions. A woman of faith, she embraced many of the values that Islam stood for—humility, simplicity, and a fighting spirit against the forces of evil. Even as idealistic Muslims wished that she firmly resolved the decade-long Moro insurgency, she tried by opening her arms to peace negotiations with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF),” Tomawis also told abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak.

“She like Ninoy were iconic symbols of freedom.  It’s something that Moros aspire for in its genuine reform. Not just an autonomy dependent on central governments and elites,” Tomawis added.

The Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy (PCID) also expressed its condolences to the family of President Aquino.  

“President Aquino has been a symbol of moral courage and leadership to the Filipino people since she led the nation in its struggle against the dictatorship up to the time when she guided the nation in the restoration of its democratic institutions,” the PCID said in a statement issued over the weekend. 

PCID is a non-partisan, non-governmental organization advocating for a peaceful solution to the conflict in Mindanao. Former Senator Santanina Rasul is the group's adviser.

PCID acknowledged that while the peace talks with the MNLF failed under Aquino’s administration, it was her leadership that led to the creation of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“And while the dream for autonomy remains elusive, we recognize her genuine desire to achieve peace in Mindanao,” the PCID added.

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