Hajj pilgrims affected by Cotabato Airport shutdown return home

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — More than 300 Moro pilgrims from Saudi Arabia, whose return flights got rerouted to other cities due to the closure of the Cotabato Airport, had been shuttled home since Monday by the Bangsamoro government.

Local executives in Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur told reporters Thursday their constituents who performed the 2023 hajj in Makkah, Saudi Arabia were fetched from the airports in the cities of Davao and General Santos City by buses chartered by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Maguindanao Governor Abdulrauf Macacua said he was elated learning that among those who had benefited from MOTC-BARMM’s intervention were residents of different towns under his jurisdiction.

“Their travel back home was made easy by this project of the MOTC-BARMM,” Macacua said.

The Moro pilgrims from Saudia Arabia were forced to return here via airports in faraway cities due to last month’s sudden suspension of all flights to Cotabato City from Manila and elsewhere to pave the way for the repair of its runway.

Bangsamoro Transportation and Communications Minister Paisalin Pangandaman Tago said their shuttle services for pilgrims returning to Cotabato City and in towns in Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur shall continue until Sunday.

He said they are expecting no fewer than a thousand more pilgrims to avail of their “Sundo Hajj Project” that started last Monday.

Performing the hajj, even once in a lifetime, is obligatory to physically-fit and financially capable Muslims.

Tago said he is not sure on when will the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines reopen the Cotabato Airport in nearby Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao.