Eid’l Fitr celebration in Cotabato City urged to be done at home

Cotabato City Mayor Cynthia Guiani urged those celebrating the end of the month of Ramadan (Eid’l Fitr) to pray at home instead of in mosques.

“We appeal to all our Muslim brothers and sisters to perform our Eid prayers in our respective homes so we can be safe with our families and loved ones. We ask for your utmost understanding and we hope that we will continue to follow all our minimum health protocols,” said Guiani.

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There will be no public service at the city’s People’s Palace on Thursday.

She said it is not certain that physical distancing will be implemented if more people attend the event, especially since the number of positive COVID-19 cases in the city continues to rise.

“Despite our MGCQ status in Cotabato City, we cannot guarantee that the allowed 30% capacity of every venue, and physical distancing, will be followed thereby increasing the risk of spreading the virus. As you can see in our daily COVID tracker, our cases increase by the day and we record COVID-related deaths every week here in our city,” according to Guiani, on her Facebook account Tuesday afternoon.

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Eid’l Fitr celebration in PH

President Rodrigo Duterte declared Thursday, May 13, a regular holiday in observance of the Eid‘l Fitr, the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

The National Commission on Muslim Filipinos proposed the national holiday, Duterte said in Proclamation No. 1142.

“The entire Filipino nation should have the full opportunity to join their Muslim brothers and sisters in peace and harmony in observance and celebration of Eid’l Fitr, subject to community quarantine, social distancing, and other public health measures,” the President said.

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Eid’l Fitr also called the “Festival of Breaking the Fast” or Lesser Eid, or simply Eid, is a religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan.

Government data showed Muslims make up around 6 percent of the Philippines’ over 100 million population, where 8 in 10 are Catholics.

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