MANILA: The Philippines is developing a “halal ecosystem” to try and boost tourism and trade, according to the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, as the country targets more commercial exchanges with Arab and Muslim countries.

There are only around 10 million Muslims among the nearly 120 million, predominantly Catholic, population of the Philippines, but the country is looking to expand its domestic halal industry considerably.

The government wants to raise 230 billion pesos ($4 billion) in investments and generate around 120,000 jobs by 2028 by tapping into the global halal market, which is estimated to be worth more than $7 trillion.

The NCMF, a government agency whose mandate is to promote the rights and welfare of Muslim Filipinos, is central to ensuring that the products and initiatives developed under the country’s halal drive comply with Islamic regulations.

“Since NCMF is the only (Islamic) religious institution in the government structure, NCMF should lead in the implementation of programs and activities pertaining to halal,” Sabbudin Abdurahim, the commission’s new secretary, told Arab News this week.

“The NCMF is now spearheading the implementation of programs and activities for the development ... Through collaboration with partner stakeholders, we are looking to establish a halal ecosystem in the Philippines.”

The commission is cooperating with other government agencies — including the Department of Trade, Department of Agriculture, and Department of Tourism — as the Philippines seeks to expand the market presence of its halal-certified products, which include not only food and beverage products and services, but also travel.

Since the Philippines won the Emerging Muslim-friendly Destination award at the Halal in Travel Global Summit in 2023, it has invested significantly to attract visitors from the Middle East and the nearby Muslim-majority countries of Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, particularly by ensuring that they have access to halal products and services.

Without developing a halal ecosystem, many potential visitors from Arab and Muslim countries might choose to visit other countries like Malaysia instead, “because they are confident they can easily find halal food there, unlike in the Philippines,” Abdurahim said.

“If we have halal restaurants here in the Philippines, many visitors from Arab or Muslim countries will come here ... Our halal division is already meeting with hotels, restaurants, and other establishments (about collaborating).”

Abdurahim sees the expansion of the halal industry as beneficial for all of Philippine society.

“It will benefit not only the Muslims in the Philippines, but the economy in general,” he said.

KABUL: When Salma was suddenly forced to stop her education in the eighth grade, she was left in limbo, every day waiting to return to the classroom. Almost three years later, the hope has faded not only for her, but also more than a million Afghan girls above the age of 13 who are no longer allowed to attend school.
Secondary schools for girls were suspended in September 2021, a month after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan. The ban resulted in about 1.1 million girls being denied access to formal education.
For Salma and her friends, it was an end to their dreams of the future.
“I used to go to school every day. Every morning felt very exciting. We would meet our friends and teachers. We used to play together, eat and, of course, study,” she said.
“Every time I sat with my classmates, we would talk about our dreams and plans. I always wanted to be a teacher, my friend wanted to become a doctor, another one wished to become a computer engineer ... Everything changed so suddenly.”
Neither appeals at home nor international pressure on the Taliban administration have since helped to lift the ban, which authorities have repeatedly said was an “internal matter.” The only education the Taliban have allowed for girls is at madrasas, Islamic schools that focus on religious training.
Some of Salma’s colleagues tried to continue their learning and took private lessons online.
“But they banned those classes as well,” she said. “We just pass days and nights without doing anything meaningful. Our lives have become purposeless.”
The ban was later extended to universities, with more than 100,000 female students blocked from finishing their degrees.
Testimonies of girls and young women such as Salma are now being collected under the “Iqra” campaign by Afghan activists trying to amplify their voices.
The word “iqra,” meaning “read” in Arabic, was the first word of the Qur’anic revelation, which is interpreted by many Muslims as emphasizing the importance of education in Islam.
The campaign is organized by Musawer and Rawadari, two civil society organizations working for children’s education and human rights.
“We started the Iqra campaign as we were getting closer to the 1,000 days of school closure for girls in Afghanistan. We were so saddened and really grieved by it because every day is a day that will never come back for these young women. They can never go back and be of the same age and go back to school,” Shaharzad Akbar, director of Rawadari, told Arab News.
Rawadari has been contacting girls across Afghanistan, asking how it feels to be out of school for so long, how it has affected them, and what was it that they wanted.
“Their main demand is the reopening of schools and universities so that they can continue their education. When you talk to an 11-12-year-old in other parts of the world, they will talk about personal ambitions. But for almost all of these girls, they are talking about serving their communities,” Akbar said.
“Almost every single person said I wanted to be educated so I can serve Afghanistan and my people. That was really moving. What a waste that they will not be able to serve in the ways that they want to serve because they are banned from education.”
Women activists and education experts say the ban on girls’ education has already damaged the entire social system.
Fazila Muruwat, former head of the Kunar Teachers’ Education College, said that the restriction is taking a toll on both students and educators.
“People are hopeless and sad,” she said. “Female teachers are also forgetting a lot of what they have learned and taught before.”
Mahbob Mowahed, principal of a private school in Kabul, highlighted the damaging psychological and social consequences of the ban.
“In order to have a progressive and independent country, it is imperative for everyone to have access to education, which means that men, women, boys and girls should have the opportunity to learn,” he said.
“Women are an important part of the society and we cannot keep them illiterate forever. Even religion cannot be properly learnt without education.”
Fears are growing that the prolonged denial of education is resulting in another lost generation in Afghanistan.
“An entire generation was thrown into darkness. This is such a loss that Afghanistan will not be able to compensate for it for decades. It is not just a problem of girls but it is a discussion of the survival of Afghanistan,” Shafiqa Khpalwak, director of Musawer, told Arab News.
“I don’t know what the society will be like if girls don’t go to school and remain illiterate ... This is a human disaster. This is a violation of human dignity.”