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Release No.2
July 6, 2016
In commemoration of the annual feast which marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan (Eid’l Fitr), President Rodrigo R. Duterte issued Proclamation 6-2016 on Monday declaring today as a regular holiday in the country.
Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said the proclamation is in the spirit of peace and harmony, which would allow the entire nation an opportunity to join the Filipino Muslims in the observance and celebration of this sacred Islamic tradition.
In 2002, Republic Act 9177 which declared the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar, a national holiday for the observance of Eid’l Fitr. The approximate date for this holiday may be determined in accordance to Islamic calendar (Hijra) which means it has no fixed date in the Western or Gregorian calendar.
The Feast of Ramadan is important to the believers of Islam. who observe it as fasting of the mind and the heart. Eid is a time for healing social wounds or relationships and a period for bringing families together. More than a feast, Eid Al-Fitr is a spiritual thanksgiving and celebration of Muslims’ commitments to live out the teachings of the prophet Muhammad.
PRRD is the first Philippine President who comes from Mindanao, where most of the Filipino Muslims live. The three major ethnolinguistic groups in Muslim Mindanao are Maguindanao, Maranao, and Tausug.
Although he traces his roots to the Visayas, the President mentioned during campaign sorties that his maternal grandmother was Maranao and he has grandchildren who are partly Tausug. PND
