Central Mindanao Eid celebration peaceful

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The Saturday Eid’l Fit’r outdoor prayer rites in central Mindanao were peaceful and appeals by clerics for unity among Muslims, Christians and the local indigenous people reverberated through worship sites.

Muslim personnel of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division and their dependents and villagers from nearby areas converged on Saturday morning at the division mosque in Camp Siongco in Datu Odin Sinsuat town for the Eid activity led by a military preacher, Capt. Alinair Guro.

In his kutbah, or sermon, Guro called on worshipers to adhere to Islamic teachings on patience, compassion and respect for religions to help propagate interfaith solidarity among them and the non-Muslims and IPs in their surroundings.

“Respect for each other is so important. We can use social media to foster peace among us, not discord, cordiality, not animosity,” Guro, who hails from Masiu town in Lanao del Sur, said.

The Eid’l Fit’r, an important religious holiday in Islam, marks the end of the Ramadhan, where Muslims fast from dawn to dusk for one lunar cycle, or from 28 to 29 days, as a religious obligation and reparation for wrongdoings.

Fasting during the Ramadhan is one of the “five pillars” of Islam that also include absolute belief in Allah, as ruler of the universe, praying five times daily facing west, giving of “zakat,” or alms to the poor and, for those who can afford, performing the hajj, or pilgrimage to Makkah in Saudi Arabia at least once in a lifetime.

Local Government Minister Naguib Sinarimbo of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao told reporters they are thankful to the 6th ID, the BARMM regional police office and the Western Mindanao Command for securing the areas where Eid’l Fit’r prayers were held.

BARMM covers the provinces of Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, and the cities of Lamitan, Marawi and Cotabato, where around 80 percent of residents are Muslims.

Sinarimbo said credit for Saturday’s peaceful outdoor events should go to Major Gen. Alex Rillera of 6th ID, Brig. Gen. Allan Nobleza of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region and his subordinate-provincial police directors, and to Lt. Gen. Roy Galido of the military’s WestMinCom based in Zamboanga City.

“We are also thankful to local executives throughout the Bangsamoro region for helping keep peace in their turfs during the traditional Eid religious activities,” Sinarimbo, also BARMM’s regional spokesperson, said.

Three Christian officials, 6th ID’s Rillera, Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Mendoza and Mayor Roderick Furigay of Lamitan City in Basilan, were among the first to extend Eid greetings to Muslims via social media and different radio stations.

Furigay, whose administration covers more than 40 barangays in Lamitan City and Mendoza, chairperson of the Cotabato Provincial Peace and Order Council, have programs promoting religious unity among Muslim and Christian constituents.

“Our constituent Muslim religious leaders helped ensure peace in their respective areas while Muslims were out in the fields praying,” Mendoza said.