Evacuees feast on roast calf on Eid al-Fitr

ILIGAN CITY — Muslim and Christian evacuees from the strife-torn city of Marawi on Sunday celebrated Eid al-Fitr at the close of the holy fasting month of Ramadan with fried fish and roast calf, thanks to President Rodrigo Duterte, and roses from their Catholic friends.

As early as Saturday evening, Tarhata Mustari, 23, knew that meals for her three children at the evacuation center in Iligan School of Fisheries would not be the usual sardines and instant noodles.

“There was this slaughtered large cow that volunteers had brought in on Saturday evening. They said it would be roasted for the Eid feast,” Mustari said.

But Mustari said she had no idea that Christian evacuees had prepared something for her and the other Muslim evacuees.

Emotional

Muslim women were in tears when they received the roses.

“That was so unexpected,” Mustari said. “Of course, I was emotional, I was deeply touched,” Nariman said.

Sarah Romapa, 49, of Barangay Marinaut, said she tightly hugged the Christian woman who gave her the rose.

“We cried together,” she said.

Henry Zamora, 26, said Christian evacuees discussed what gifts they could give to the Muslims.

“We do not have money to buy them gifts so we thought of expressing our solidarity for the Eid through the simplest form — flowers,” Zamora said.

He said camp team leaders arranged for the purchase of flowers. “What we agreed among ourselves was to let our wives hand the flowers to the Muslim women after the Eid prayer,” Zamora said.

“This is also our way of showing them that despite what happened, we Christians are not angry with them. That we are all in this together. In fact, we share the same evacuation center, and most of the time, we eat together,” he added.

Together, the evacuees feasted on the food that was prepared for them — including fried fish and the roast calf, which was bought from the P91,000 that President Duterte had given during his visit last week.

“We’re happy because we still celebrated Eid. We’re sad though because we did it inside the evacuation center,” Mustari said.

She said she wished the war was over so they could return home. “That’s what I have been praying to Allah,” she said.

Morning prayer

In other evacuation centers, emotions also ran high on Eid as Muslims listened to the “khutba” delivered by imams.

At the City Hall grounds here, where dozens of Maranaos attended the Eid prayer, people were seen weeping as Imam Maulana Mamotoc delivered his sermon.

Mamotoc called on the people of Marawi not to lose hope, adding that Allah would provide them the necessary things they needed once they returned home after the war.

In a statement marking the Eid celebration, President Duterte called for national unity even as the fighting entered its second month.

“Let us channel our energies toward fostering national unity — because dedicating our lives to the betterment of humanity is the best way to demonstrate our devotion to God,” he said.

“May this renewed sense of spiritual accomplishment give you the strength and courage to cultivate communities. In time when all odds seem stacked against us, it is our willpower and faith that will always see us through,” he added.

Peace, unity

In press statements, senators called for unity among Muslim and Christian communities.

“After a month of fasting, introspection and quest of faith, let the occasion of Eid al-Fitr serve as a symbol of our collective pursuit [of] peace and unity, especially at this time when our solidarity as a nation is being put to test with the fighting in Marawi City,” Sen. Grace Poe said.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan said: “At this time, we hope people know and give importance to cooperation, respect for others and helping each other in a time when our unity as a nation is undergoing a big challenge.” —With reports from Philip C. Tubeza and Christine O. Avendaño in Manila

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