Atty. Mae Joyce S. Magbanua-Anjalin, a Muslim lawyer hailing from Palawan, ranked third in the 2025 Special Shari’ah Bar Examination which was conducted last May 25 and May 28, 2025. She sat down with Palawan News to reflect on the customs and personal laws that the Muslim community abides by, and how this affects their relationship with Filipino civil society as a whole.
Magbanua-Anjalin was raised in Puerto Princesa City by her mother from Sofronio Española and her father from Cuyo.
She recalled that her studies were supported all the way up to her Juris Doctor degree obtained at Mindanao State University’s (MSU) College of Law where she graduated as Class Valedictorian in 2013.
She was admitted to the bar in 2015 and has since practiced the legal profession in Palawan, currently serving at the Palawan Provincial Legal Office.
When asked about her decision to pursue law, Magbanua-Anjalin stated that she could not single out one defining moment that made her choose the law profession, or indeed to choose to deepen her understanding of Shari’ah laws because she was raised in a household where the law was lived, as much as it was practiced.
Shari’ah Bar
The Shari’ah Bar examination is a test supervised by the Supreme Court of the Philippines for admission as special members of the Philippine Bar for the practice of law in the Philippine Shari’ah Courts. It covers four core subjects, namely Islamic Jurisprudence and Customary Laws; Persons and Family Relations; Succession and Settlement of Estate; and Shari’ah Court Procedure.
Magbanua-Anjalin wanted to raise awareness on how Shari’ah laws work, considering that Islam was the second highest ranking religious affiliation in the entire Filipino population as of the Philippine Statistics Authority’s 2020 census.
“Even mga officemates ko and friends kasi, nagtatanong, ‘Tungkol saan yung Shari’ah bar? How does it differ from the regular bar examinations that we usually know? The word ‘Shari’ah’ itself is very broad, technically it refers to the totality of the commandments of [Allah]. It is a divine law, and it comprises many branches of law like civil, commercial law, political law, religious law and criminal law,” she said.
Among the mentioned laws, those that are personal in nature that conform with the Philippine Constitution were codified and adopted as part of our legal system. So, the Philippine Shari’ah Bar examination is about the Presidential Decree No. 1083 with the Qur’an and other sources of Shariah law as its foundation, with due regard to the principles of the Philippine Constitution.
Unlike most Filipinos, Muslims were governed by different legal processes in line with Islamic laws and traditions, and thus their civil identities did not operate under the general laws imbedded in the Civil Code or Family Code of the Philippines, but under PD 1083.
The 2020 PSA census stated that 6.4% of all Filipinos, or 6.9 million people living in the country identified as Muslim.
The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao was identified in the 2024 PSA census as recording over 5 million citizens within their region alone, and is the only region with an increased growth population birth rate in the country.
Palawan itself is the predominant place in MIMAROPA of citizens who practice Islam, with 10.8% of Palawan and 2.9% of Puerto Princesa’s total 2020 population mean that one out of every nine residents living in the province identified as practicing Muslims.
The increasing numbers of the Muslim population also meant that they are more prone to migration from one region to another, sharing territory with their non-Muslim neighbors.
Yet, not all non-Muslims were aware that the Muslim community were beholden to a different set of civil laws under Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), which nonetheless were legally enforced even in transactions with non-Muslims.
If you are born to a Muslim family , or if you have embraced Islam, you are already governed by the Shari’ah law. Likewise, when your marriage was solemnized under Shari’ah law, all the nature, consequences, and incidents of marriage, like support, custody, filiation, and even its dissolution, are governed by Shari’ah Law or PD 1083, Magbanua-Anjalin said.
Marriage and the family unit
One of the distinct differences of PD 1083 was its rigorous system that overwrites the national Civil and Family Code’s lack of clauses for divorce and implements several avenues for legal remedies in property relations within the marital relationship.
Marriage under the Family Code, and marriage (nikah) under the Muslim code both have essential requisites for what could be considered a legal marriage between citizens, but PD 1083 also listed provisions for subsequent marriage and divorce.
PD 1083 has an entire section dedicated to seven forms of divorce that is legally allowed within a Muslim marriage- namely, when a husband totally abstains from continuing his marital rights and relations with his wife (talaq); when a husband takes an oath to not engage in carnal relations with his wife for a period of time (ila); when a husband insults his wife by comparing her to a relation within degrees prohibited by marriage (zihar); when the husband accuses the wife of adultery (li’an); when the wife returns her dowry in order to be released from the marriage contract (khul’); when the husband gave the right for his wife to enact talaq after their marriage (tafwid); and when the wife presents reasons for the dissolution of the marriage, including but not limited to the husband enacting domestic violence, unusual cruelty, and lack of financial support for the family (faskh).
Magbanua-Anjalin referred it as “the most hated of permissible things to Allah”, as even though the concept of divorce itself is antithetical to the preservation of the family unit (the justification for the no-divorce clause in the Philippines’ own Family Code as well as the Constitution).
“Kumbaga, under Shariah Law, divorce is permissible although detestable dahil magkakaroon ng dissolution of marriage. Pero for the purpose of protection of life, protection of intellect, and protection of lineage, kaya may mga options. Both Muslim men and women, may option sila to initiate a divorce as an act of last resort and necessity so that they can release each other in kindness in pursuit of peace,” she added.
While an “Absolute Divorce” bill is currently undergoing rounds in the House of Representatives, any actual remedies for the dissolution of marriage does not yet exist for marriages solemnized in the Philippines outside of PD 1083.
Property relations
Laws on property were also different, as the Muslim marriage is governed by complete separation of property, by default, unless there is a marriage settlement or prenup agreement- meaning, both husband and wife get to keep separate properties before and after the marriage, which meant simpler legal battles for ownership after divorce or remarriage.
Succession, however, is another complicated matter entirely.
Magbanua-Anjalin noted that the laws on succession, wills and settlement of estates under PD 1083 are also different from the Civil law.
The sharers and the computation of shares are based on the provisions of the Qur’an.
This caused much more confusion when it comes to selling property such as titled land to non-Muslims, who are much more likely to be unaware that a sharer was entitled to a portion of the estate before it was sold to them.
“If you are buying property from a Muslim Filipino, you have to be cautious and be wary of- especially if the transaction involves extrajudicial settlement of the estate kasi iba ang laws on succession. Under PD 1083, the mother and the father are always included as heirs. If you buy a property under extrajudicial settlement of the estate with waiver of rights or deed of sale, kailangan maconsider ang mga compulsory sharers. Otherwise, it may result in a legal controversy in the future.”
Magbanua-Anjalin observed that Muslim Palaweños rarely approached the Shariah courts for property disputes and settlement of estates, in comparison to those seeking matters of divorce.
Intersectional legal matters
The structure of Islamic laws as based on the Qur’an and years of theological doctrine made it easier for resolving legal issues between Muslims, and trickier for those who were not considered as part of the faith.
Magbanua-Anjalin clarified that based on existing law and Supreme Court resolutions, one need not to be born or converted into the Islamic faith to engage in Shari’ah courts or to legally help any Muslim, as any regular member of the Bar could practice law in Shari’ah courts.
However, one must have adequate knowledge and understanding of the substantive aspect of PD 1083 for its effective administration and enforcement.
For their legal studies at Mindanao State University, Magbanua-Anjalin explained that Shari’ah Law was taught as early as first year, alongside the Philippine Civil and Family Code.
Hence, she has been handling Shari’ah cases for several years since her admission to the Philippine bar.
Earlier in April this year, the Legal Education Board held a public consultation with the Bangsamoro Attorney General’s Office and the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos to refine the specialized academic track for Shari’ah laws.
Magbanua-Anjalin expressed her wish that knowledge of Shari’ah law would be more accessible not just to Palaweños, but every community that wanted to be armed with the knowledge of everybody’s rights.
Last August 12, 2024, Pres. Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. signed into law Republic Act No. 12018, an Act creating three additional Shari’ah Districts and twelve (12) Sharia’h Circuit Courts and placing Palawan under the Eighth Shari’ah District.
