Hi Blondie,
The Phillipines is a democratic nation, and not a dictatorship. The opening paragraph in the article said the following:
Barredo said that the Gawad Pangulo sa Kapaligiran, otherwise known as the Clean and Green project of the national government has become one of the most successful programs at the community level because of the active participation of government, non-government, people's organization and the interfaith communities.
The very fact that the JWs are part of an "interfaith" community tells us that they are indeed a "willing participant" with what they call "false" religion. Even "if" the Phillipine government "required" such service, the JWs would then be obligated to "obey God as ruler rather than men" and accept persecution for such civil disobedience.
Further, the Phillipine Constitution says:
The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines declared, "The separation of Church and State shall be inviolable." (Article II, Section 6), and, "No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed. No religious test shall be required for the exercise of civil or political rights." (Article III, Section 5).
The Phillipine Supreme Court ruled as follows:
The Supreme Court of the Philippines , ruling in 2003 [1] and 2006 [2] in the landmark case of Estrada vs. Escritor, established the doctrine of Benevolent Neutrality-Accommodation, declaring that this is the framework by which free exercise cases must be decided: In the area of religious liberty, the Court said, it is basic that it is not sufficient to merely show a rational relationship of the substantial infringement to the religious right and a colorable state interest. If the plaintiff can show that a law or government practice inhibits the free exercise of his religious beliefs, the burden shifts to the government to demonstrate that the law or practice is necessary to the accomplishment of some important (or ‘compelling’) secular objective and that it is the least restrictive means of achieving that objective. The government must do more than assert the objectives at risk if exemption is given; it must precisely show how and to what extent those objectives will be undermined if exemptions are granted.If the plaintiff meets this burden and the government does not, the plaintiff is entitled to exemption from the law or practice at issue.In order to be protected, the claimant’s beliefs must be ‘sincere’, but they need not necessarily be consistent, coherent, clearly articulated, or congruent with those of the claimant’s religious denomination. ‘Only beliefs rooted in religion are protected by the Free Exercise Clause’; secular beliefs, however sincere and conscientious, do not suffice.
Source: Wikipedia.org
Therefore, the JWs could easily take any "burden" before the courts in the Phillipines, as they have in the United States, and seek exemption from any "required" service as a matter of long standing JW religious belief and practice.
Also, the Phillipine government promotes interfaith dialogue:
The Government's National Ecumenical Commission (NEC) fosters interfaith dialog among the major religious groups--the Roman Catholic Church, Islam, Iglesia ni Cristo, the Philippine Independent Church (Aglipayan), and Protestant denominations. The Protestant churches are represented in the NEC by the National Council of Churches of the Philippines and the Council of Evangelical Churches of the Philippines. Members of the NEC met periodically with the President to discuss social and political questions. The International Association for Religious Freedom has a regional office in Manila, and the International Religious Liberty Association held its World Congress on Religious Freedom in June 2002. Source: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2002/13907.htm
There is simply no basis to argue that the Phillipine government would impose such a "forced" community service requirement on the JWs. However, in your post, the Watchtower Society clearly says that JWs cannot participate if it means that they are joined in with "false religion." Clearly, in the case of the Phillipines, the JWs are joined in with what they call "false religion."
Jim Whitney
