The National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) had their first revalida presentation at the June 10, 2016 Public Governance Forum, where NCMF executive director Tahir Lidasan Jr. expressed the organization’s intention of focusing on strengthening Islamic finance and the Halal industry. The event, spearheaded by the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA) and co-convened by the National Competitiveness Council (NCC), was held at the Unilab Campus Bayanihan Center in Pasig City.
Low investor awareness, lack of regulatory framework, lack of secondary market, and lack of clear information are some of the realities Islamic finance currently face in the country. NCMF’s strategy to address these would be to integrate the Islamic finance into the Philippine economic system. By 2017, the organization aims to gain select regions—Davao, Cebu, Southern Luzon, and Cagayan De Oro—outside the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) that have at least 3 Islamic Microfinance Institutions with 90% recovery rate. By 2016, the organization plans to have 8 out of 8 regions that have an organized group of Muslim entrepreneurs linked to a global Islamic Financial Institution. By the same year, 4 out of 4 stakeholders must be able to achieve their annual commitment of sustaining the Islamic Microfinance ecosystem.
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NCMF Executive Director Tahir Lidasan Jr. introduces the organization for their PGS Initiation revalida.
NCMF is also looking to improve the state of the Halal industry in the country by raising the industry to global standards, converging public and private sectors to create a more credible industry, and institutionalizing a community-based Halal awareness program. “The heart of halal is Shari’ah compliance; economics/export is secondary; but we realize we must care for welfare,” NCMF Secretary Yasmin Busran-Lao said. “To deny NCMF a single centavo is to deny halal itself, something very important in the lives of Muslims.”
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NCMF panelists take note of the organization’s progress under the PGS.
The organization presented before a panel composed of ISA’s Mr Rex Drilon II, SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan’s Atty. Amer Hussein Mambuay, Office of the Executive Secretary’s Asec. Eddie Nuque, Al-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines’ Mr Isidro Sobrecarey, and Teach Peace Build Peace Movement’s Bai Rohaniza Sumndad-Usman. Panel members were impressed with the organization, especially with the leaders’ determination in achieving organizational transformation, but sought expansion of NCMF’s strategic focus to include other aspects of Muslim Filipinos’ lives like peace and education.
NCMF was conferred PGS Initiated, the first stage of the governance reform program, after successfully presenting the organization’s current realities, progress under the PGS, and plans moving forward.
To contact the editor of this story, email Marielle Antonio at [email protected].[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]