# Davao Bans Burqas In Malls



## Asian Spirit (Mar 1, 2010)

Moderators Note: This news post will be left open for comment but only 
so long as discretion is used and it does not lead to disagreements...
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DAVAO CITY—The city government’s public safety office is planning to require Muslim women to take off their burqas upon entering malls as a... Read More

(source: INQ News)

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## UltraFJ40 (May 20, 2014)

I don't know how big of a fan I am about this. Surely, there is an argument about people being in public making themselves unidentifiable (for public safety) but I still see it as an infringement on religious beliefs.

I'm not a Muslim and honestly don't care for the radical side of Islam but I still think that all people should be afforded the opportunity to practice their religion as long as it doesn't infringe upon others or public safety.

Obviously this is my knee-jerk reaction and I should probably give it some more thought before coming to a final position but.......


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## Tukaram (Dec 18, 2014)

Can nuns still cover their heads?


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## pagbati (Apr 9, 2014)

Tukaram said:


> Can nuns still cover their heads?


Have nuns been involved in a raft of bombings recently that I haven't heard about? At the end of the day, it wouldn't bother me if religiious garments were not allowed full stop. Just saying.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Burqas are a culteral thing, nothing to do with religion


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## EuroBob (Feb 23, 2015)

Gary D said:


> Burqas are a culteral thing, nothing to do with religion


I am no expert, 

but I think that some followers feel a woman should cover parts of her body, like her hair, so as to remove the object which may cause men to lust.

I think other religions believe a person should not display vanity, such as showing off their incredible hair.

When it comes to Islam, it is difficult to separate some of their cultural, political, and religious beliefs. My understanding is that one should incorporate the belief system into all aspects of their being; culture, religion, politics, family, etcetra.


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## pagbati (Apr 9, 2014)

Gary D said:


> Burqas are a culteral thing, nothing to do with religion


Gary D, I tend to agree with EuroBob in that it's difficult to separate cultural, political and religious beliefs, especially when living in non-secular societies. But you are correct, burqas are officially nothing to do with religion. As a matter of interest and to get back to the original topic, do you agree or disagree with the new plan being proposed in the article? i.e.,_ “As a security measure, we will be requiring people, upon entering malls and other establishments, to remove their caps, bonnets, sunglasses, including hijabs (for women) for inspection,” De Leon said, apparently referring to the burqa, which covers the entire face except for the eyes. “Anything that can conceal their faces or identities.”_


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

mabrouk said:


> Gary D, I tend to agree with EuroBob in that it's difficult to separate cultural, political and religious beliefs, especially when living in non-secular societies. But you are correct, burqas are officially nothing to do with religion. As a matter of interest and to get back to the original topic, do you agree or disagree with the new plan being proposed in the article? i.e.,_ “As a security measure, we will be requiring people, upon entering malls and other establishments, to remove their caps, bonnets, sunglasses, including hijabs (for women) for inspection,” De Leon said, apparently referring to the burqa, which covers the entire face except for the eyes. “Anything that can conceal their faces or identities.”_


I don't disagree but one should be mindful of the problems in France with trying to ban the burqa, and I don't consider filipino politicians to be very outward looking.


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## pagbati (Apr 9, 2014)

Gary D said:


> I don't disagree but one should be mindful of the problems in France with trying to ban the burqa, and I don't consider filipino politicians to be very outward looking.


Gary D, True, but fear of reprisal, if that's what you mean, is not always a good reason for not doing something. Whilst I have no objections to the new proposed plan for security reasons, I think France 'lost the plot' in banning the Burkina. Something about those pictures of French police forcing a woman to remove her clothing didn’t seem right. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/24/french-police-make-woman-remove-burkini-on-nice-beach


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## EuroBob (Feb 23, 2015)

From the cited article...
"De Leon, however, said that apart from burqas, caps, bonnets, sunglasses and other bodily accessories that could conceal a person’s identity would be ordered taken off upon entering malls and other establishments."

So I wonder, if the authorities can clearly see a person's face, does it increase security? 
Does it reduce the chance of another attack?

And if it is done to identify people and thus increase security, one would logically have to apply it to nuns and all people out of concern that a potential attacker might try to disguise themselves to avoid detection.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

EuroBob said:


> From the cited article...
> "De Leon, however, said that apart from burqas, caps, bonnets, sunglasses and other bodily accessories that could conceal a person’s identity would be ordered taken off upon entering malls and other establishments."
> 
> So I wonder, if the authorities can clearly see a person's face, does it increase security?
> ...


The authorities are just trying to be seen to be doing something and this is the best they could come up with.


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## pagbati (Apr 9, 2014)

I think this is one of those issues where you’re da*ned if you do and da*ned if you don’t and where you definitely cannot please all of the people all of the time. Particularly as it's about trying to solve a problem with religious connotations. Someone, somewhere is going to be offended. Whilst I’m firmly in the secularist camp, I still don’t see why nuns should have to suffer for the actions of others. If terrorists start using a nun’s garb in an attempt to hide their identity - and I don’t quite see how as they don’t wear a hijab - then maybe that would be the time to start looking at that aspect. Whilst seeing a persons face may not increase security here in the Ph, it does give the authorities a better chance of apprehending the culprit after the event, especially if there's any CCTV around.

Another poster could easily reply with a quick one-liner such as, _‘why should all Muslims suffer because of an incident they had nothing to do with’? _ Difficult to answer these sort of questions on a forum, but not impossible and it would take more time than I'd care to spend on it. This is the sort of topic that’s easier to discuss over a beer or a coffee rather than a forum because there are no easy answers and the risk of offending is high.

Another example of clothing being a security issue, and this is totally non religious, would be the ‘hoodie’. To my understanding, there have been a fair number of crimes committed by ‘Hoodies’ that have gone undetected because security cameras are unable to identify them; wouldn’t it be a good idea to ban them? However, once you start banning what people can wear, burkas or hoodies, you enter into the human rights minefield, freedom of expression ++. I’m not belittling human rights either, far from it. But very often these days it seems that the human rights of victims comes last.

PS: In my earlier post, ⋕9, I implied that France had banned the burkini which was incorrect. What I should have said is that some mayors and municipalities had banned the burkini and the French Council of State subsequently overturned the ban.


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## Tukaram (Dec 18, 2014)

EuroBob said:


> From the cited article...
> "De Leon, however, said that apart from burqas, caps, bonnets, sunglasses and other bodily accessories that could conceal a person’s identity would be ordered taken off upon entering malls and other establishments."
> 
> So I wonder, if the authorities can clearly see a person's face, does it increase security?
> ...


I have always had to sunglasses off going through security at the mall. My regular glasses darken in the sun and will lighten - but not before I get through security. So no burkas is fine with me


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## pagbati (Apr 9, 2014)

Tukaram said:


> I have always had to sunglasses off going through security at the mall. My regular glasses darken in the sun and will lighten - but not before I get through security. So no burkas is fine with me


Tukaram, same here; I’m not sure that it’s achieving anything as I imagine I stick out a mile anyway being a foreigner. But purely out of respect to the security guard trying to do their job, I tend to take my sunglasses off every time I go through the security check at a mall.


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