No mass gatherings for Eid’l Fitr

MANILA, Philippines — All rites that involve mass gatherings in public places or in mosques during the Eid’l Fitr are prohibited, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said yesterday.

“There is a marching order from the Philippine National Police to guard mosques and implement directives from the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force) that no gatherings would be allowed to welcome Eid’l Fitr,” NCRPO chief Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas said in an online presser yesterday.

Sinas, citing quarantine restrictions as per the IATF, said he had already spoken to Muslim leaders and mosque administrators to keep mosques closed during the holiday.

Police district directors in Metro Manila have been ordered to deploy men in traditional places where Muslims celebrate Eid’l Fitr like Luneta, Quirino Grandstand and other open spaces to remind them that no gatherings should take place.

The National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) had earlier reminded Muslim communities that mass gatherings are not allowed in areas under modified enhanced community quarantine.

“Imams and other religious ministers are allowed to provide home religious services, provided that proper health and safety protocols are observed,” read the statement.

Sinas, who landed in hot water for his birthday celebration early this month amid strict quarantine restrictions, said he trusts that Muslims would follow the IATF directive.

President Duterte has declared May 25 as a regular holiday in observance of Eid’l Fitr, celebrated by Muslims around the world for three days after the end of Ramadan, which calls for spiritual reflection through praying, fasting and abstaining from sinful behavior.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said employees in the private sector who will work on May 25 would get double pay, an advisory showed yesterday.

The DOLE advisory said Eid’l Fitr is declared a regular holiday under Proclamation No. 944, issued by Duterte on May 19, 2020.

Based on Labor Advisory No. 20, series of 2020, those who will work on May 25 shall be paid 200 percent of their regular salary for the first eight hours. If they worked overtime, they shall be given an additional 30 percent of their hourly rate.

“Moreover, employees who did not work on the said holiday shall be paid 100 percent of their salary ([Basic wage + COLA or cost of living allowance] x 100 percent]),” the agency said.

DOLE added that workers who report for duty on a regular holiday that also falls on their rest day should be paid an additional 30 percent of their basic wage of 200 percent.

Workers who render overtime work on a regular holiday that also falls on their rest day shall be paid an additional 30 percent of their hourly rate on such day.

Gatherings

The NCMF and an Islamic policy group have appealed to Muslims not to converge even outdoors to prevent exposure to the deadly coronavirus during the Eid rites to end Ramadan on May 25.

Malacañang has declared Eid’l Fitr a holiday on Monday, but Muslims in the country are likely to end Ramadan either on May 23 or 24, depending on the sighting of the new moon according to the lunar-based Islamic Hijrah calendar.

The NCMF and the Darul Iftah or the House of Opinions of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said the restriction on outdoor Eid prayer rites is a protection measure allowed in Islam to contain the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Abu Huraira Udasan, grand mufti (preacher) in the Bangsamoro region and figurehead of the Darul Iftah, told reporters yesterday there is nothing wrong with performing Eid’l Fitr prayers inside the Muslim faithful’s homes in keeping with quarantine protocols.

The Darul Iftah is comprised of top clerics in the Bangsamoro region, among them graduates of Islamic universities in the Middle East and North Africa.

NCMF head Saidamen Pangarungan also called on Muslims to hold Eid’l Fitr prayers at home.

Muslims traditionally hold grand outdoor prayers to mark the end of the Ramadan fasting season on the first day of Shawal, the 10th month from among 12, in the Hijrah calendar.

Muslims practice fasting from dawn to dusk for one lunar cycle, or from between 28 to 29 days, as a religious obligation and to imbue on them the importance of self-restraint to achieve spiritual perfection.  

Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of the Islamic faith which include belief in Allah, praying five times a day facing west, giving of zakat or alms to the poor and, for those who can afford the cost of travel, performing the hajj or pilgrimage to Makkah in Saudi Arabia at least once in a lifetime.

Pangarungan said the International Broadcasting Corp. IBC-13 shall air on May 24 an Eid’l Fitr khutba (sermon) by Muslim theologian Julkipli Wadi of the University of the Philippines’ Institute of Islamic Studies.

The NCMF and Darul Iftah’s separate advisories were premised on quarantine restrictions set by the IATF on Emerging Infectious Diseases. Sheila Cisostomo, John Unson