Duterte calls for unity on Eid al-Fitr

TRYING IT ON FOR SIZE  A little girl tries on an oversized pair of sandals as she wanders around Quezon Memorial Circle during the Eid al-Fitr festival. ALEXIS CORPUZ

President Duterte on Wednesday called on Filipino Muslims to “unite with other Filipinos” in achieving “lasting peace” as the country marked Eid al-Fitr, the Islamic feast ending the holy month of Ramadan.

The President noted the importance of the monthlong, dawn-to-sunset fasting by Muslims in instilling discipline and good values among members of the Islamic faith.

“May the sense of discipline the holy month of Ramadan has taught and nurtured among the Muslims inspire all the members of the Muslim Filipino communities to unite with other Filipinos to achieve lasting peace, political stability, economic growth and development,” said Duterte, the country’s first chief executive from Mindanao, the same region where most of the country’s minority Muslim population live.

The former Davao City mayor underscored the significance of Eid al-Fitr, coming just days after he took his oath as the 16th president of the mostly Christian Philippines. He vowed to bring “peace, stability, development and progress under” his leadership.

The president issued Proclamation No. 6 on Monday,  July 6 a regular holiday in deference to Eid al-Fitr, which is determined by the moonrise in Sawwal, the 10th of the 12-month lunar calendar.

Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said: “Eid (al-Fitr) is a time for healing social wounds or relationships and a period for bringing families together.”