MSU-LEB tiff still hangs

There is one meaty issue that makes gadgets like the cell phones of Muslim netizens light up constantly — the controversy over the threat of the Law Education Board (LEB) to withdraw government recognition of the College of Law of the Mindanao State University (MSU)which will deal a serious blow to the age-old aspirations of Filipino Muslims to be at par with the Christian majority, an essential component of the assimilation campaign of the government for social peace and stability.

The issue is still in limbo. This has become a clarion call for all Muslims and group, public and non-public, to make known their stand and sentiments on the issue.

First to react through a public statement was the local government of the Islamic City of Marawi, the locus of MSU. In a statement signed by its mayor, Sultan Majul Usman Gabdamra, a lawyer himself, it expressed “its deep apprehension regarding the closure order issued by the LEB against the MSU College of Law, which has been a steadfast institution producing capable lawyers who significantly contribute to our country’s fair administration of justice and in advocating for the rights of the marginalized communities, particularly in Muslim Mindanao. We urge the LEB to consider MSU’s unique and special mandate in promoting peace, justice and development. We call on the LEB to reconsider its decision.”

The Deputy Chief Minister of BARMM, Ali B. Solaiman, also expressed publicly “unequivocal support for the MSU College of Law.” The Integrated Bar of Cotabato and Lanao del Sur and a host of government and non-government organizations, and still counting as we go to press, whose names cannot all be mentioned due to space constraints followed with similar public statements of support.

There is a tsunami of support for continuing the juris doctor program of MSU that the LEB would be hard pressed to ignore.

Readers, you be the judge. It’s a choice between justice and injustice.

Amb_mac_lanto-@yahoo.com