Leader wants to build mosque inside University of the Philippines

Manila: A Filipino-Muslim leader has proposed for the establishment of a mosque for Muslim students at the premier University of the Philippines in Metro Manila’s suburban Quezon City, sources said.

“Yes, I want a mosque or a prayer area for Filipino-Muslim students at the University of the Philippines,” Al Tillah, who was once affiliated with the 47-year-old Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which forged pro-autonomy peace settlements with the Philippine government in 1976 and 1996, told Gulf News.

“I am proceeding with my initiative in a low-key manner,” Tillah said.

“The proposal was made because of the growing number of Filipino-Muslims in UP. They want a place of worship near their school. UP is quite isolated,” Tillah’s assistant, who requested anonymity, said.

“Mr Tillah believes the proposed mosque will symbolize the friendship cemented by the Philippine government with the Filipino-Muslim community – the Philippine government has forged several pro-autonomy peace settlements with two Filipino-Muslim rebel groups.”

One of them is the 37-year-old Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which became a faction of the MNLF in 1978 after the Philippine government and the MNLF inked their first pro-autonomy agreement in Libya in 1976. The Philippine government and the MILF eventually forged their first pro-autonomy political settlement in 2014, after 14 years of peace talks that began in 1997.

Tillah’s proposal was made in early 2015, but UP officials have not yet scheduled formal talks, said the source. He did not say if there was a categorical resistance to the proposed project.

“Several groups have offered cash and logistics to the project,” said the source, but refused to give more details.

If Tillah’s proposal is finally approved, UP will be the first state university in Metro Manila to have a mosque in its grounds.

The Holy Parish Church, a Roman Catholic Church with a dome-like roof; and the Church of the Risen Lord, a Protestant Church with a roof that looks like a saddle, face each other on UP’s Laurel Street.

In 1953, UP president Vidal Tan granted land lease to these groups. It all began in 1948, when Christian students (both Catholic and Protestant) said they wanted a place of worship in UP.