MANILA - A House of Representatives panel on Tuesday approved a measure providing Muslim Filipinos better access to Shari'a courts in their absence. The House Committee on Muslim Affairs, chaired by Lanao del Norte Representative Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo, approved House Bill 5045 which would amend Republic Act 9997, or the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) Act of 2009. Dimaporo, author of the bill, said the measure is intended to give the NCMF the mandate to help Muslim Filipinos outside of Mindanao in getting access to Shari'a courts. "Access to Shari'a courts has been a recurring plight of many Muslim Filipinos," Dimaporo said. "This legislative measure thus seeks to rectify this present predicament by allowing and empowering the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos to act as a service provider for and on behalf of Muslim Filipinos to file and receive routine documents to the Shari'a Courts." Dimaporo noted that recent migrations, in