Philippines Allows Muslims To Collect Jizya

Philippines to let MILF collect taxes

Why doesn't the Philippine government just give up the ghost already? What good has your Muslim minority ever done for your country? How could you possibly give in to these primitive ingrates?

From Money Jihad (with thanks to Total):

In a chilling decision, Filipino negotiators are poised to put the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in charge of tax collection in the South. Thanks to Rantburg for headlining this story yesterday. Their source for this article was Iran Press TV:

The Filipino government has agreed to offer expanded autonomy to the Muslim minority in the country’s south.

Officials hope the move will pave the way for sealing a peace deal aimed at ending the 40-year-long conflict in the region with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Annabelle Abaya, the presidential adviser on the peace process, was hoping that the offer would convince the MILF to sign a peace accord before a new president is sworn in on June 30. “In enhanced autonomy, the president is offering to share powers,” Abaya told reporters on Monday.

The autonomy allows the Muslim minority to control tax collection and natural resources in the south.

As I commented on Rantburg, this means that as in Pakistan, South Filipinos will be forced to pay the 2.5% zakat tax plus secular Philippine taxes, that Muslim farmers will pay the discriminatory ushr tax on harvests, that Christians will be subjected to the jizya, and in the Philippines we may even see the restoration of Islam’s ancient & hated kharaj tax on land seized from non-Muslims.

Then tax revenues will be skimmed off the top by the tax collectors, who will claim that they’re spending it on the poor, but the bulk of it will actually be spent to propagate Islam and to wage jihad.

Prediction: MILF autonomy will not “solve” militant Islam in the Philippines, it will exacerbate it.