The Philippines – a nation in transition
The country is shared by Christians and Muslims. Islam was the first monotheistic religion in the Philippines with early historical records showing contact between the island population and Muslims traders from Arabian, Persian, Chinese and other Malay lands as early as the 14th century. Today Muslims make up about 12% of the population with a growing number of Filipino Muslim converts.
While the southern Muslim region in the Philippines is under-developed, there is renewed emphasis by the government to focus development in Muslim regions.
Muslim Kids TV founders held a series of meetings in the Philippines to explore ways Muslim Kids TV may be integrated into development work and the education system.
Muslim Kids TV met with representatives from the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos. NCMF advocates for the rights of the Muslim Filipinos and reports directly to the Office of the President of the Philippines. A meeting was also held with Director General Jose Mari Oquinena of the Philippines Information Agency to discuss ways MKTV may be used to increase understanding among all children about Muslim faith and values. The Director General commented that, “Muslim Kids TV is an excellent initative and I see it as a way to bring the world to the Muslim children in the Philippines. It is also a great way to bring all our young brothers and sister from all faiths together as one country.”
Meeting with National Commission on Muslim Filipinos
Meetings were also held with representatives from the Department of Education from Manila and the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. Muslim Kids TV will be an excellent fit as part of the Arabic Language Islamic Values Education (ALIVE) curriculum in the Philippines.
Meeting with National Council for Children’s Television.
There are many efforts underway to improve the educational opportunities for Muslims in the Philippines also being carried out by NGOs like UNICEF and Asia Foundation.
We look forward to working together with some of these partners in bringing Muslim Kids TV to the Philippines.
A special thanks to the Canadian Trade Commission in Manila for facilitating these meetings for Muslim Kids TV.