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| The Philippines is home to many Muslims. |
Apart from the protracted hostilities between the Moros and the State, the Philippines during the 1970s saw the post-colonial conception of the Code of Muslim Personal Laws (CMPL). The Code was in compliance to Article XV Section II of the 1973 Constitution: “The State shall consider the customs, traditions, beliefs and interests of national cultural communities in the formulation and implementation of state policies…” It codified Muslim laws on marriage, divorce, property relations, and child custody, among others.
The enacted Code though was limited to personal laws because of the limited preparation time to deliberate on other legal provisions, as the Civil Code statutes related to Muslims were about to end. The CMPL then was meant to thwart a legal problem that could weaken the political identity of Muslim institutions.
