FILIPINOS will have a long weekend next week after President Rodrigo Duterte declared June 26, a Monday, a regular holiday to mark Eid’l Fitr or the end of the holy month of fasting for Muslims.
In his Proclamation 235 dated June 16, Duterte said the entire Filipino nation should have the “full opportunity to join their Muslim brothers and sisters in peace and harmony.”
“In order to bring the religious and cultural significance of the Eid’l Fitr to the fore of national consciousness, it is necessary to declare Monday, June 26, 2017, as a national holiday in the observance and celebration of Eid’l Fitr,” Duterte said.
“Therefore, I, Rodrigo Roa Duterte, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby declare Monday, 26 June 2017, a regular holiday throughout the country in observance of Eidíl Fitr.”
Republic Act 9177, which was approved by former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2002, provides that only the Office of the President may declare the Eid’l Fitr as a regular holiday upon the recommendation of the National Commission of Muslim Filipinos.
The act says the first day of Shawwal or the 10th month of the Islamic calendar is a regular holiday across the country.