“Given the Department’s primary mandate to assist and protect the interests of Filipino nationals abroad, our Philippine foreign service establishments in the Middle East, particularly the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh and Consulate General in Jeddah, are poised and ready to extend whatever necessary assistance to our Muslim brethren during their sojourn in the holiest places in all Islam,” Secretary Albert said, as she received the report on the first batch of Filipino pilgrims to Mecca.

The Secretary also said that Philippine Ambassador Arabia Bahnarim A. Guinomla had already met the first batch of pilgrims who arrived in  Madinah on 8 January 2004. “The group is comprised of 302 Filipino pilgrims, headed by Atty. Nora Tabao-Caudang, Director at the Office of Muslim Affairs (OMA) in Marawi City, and includes 13 sheikhs (group leaders), 10 official Hajj visa holders, five government officials, and a doctor who heads the OMA Medical Team,” Secretary Albert said.

“Ambassador Guinomla and our Embassy are already providing them with assistance for their stay during the pilgrimage.”  The Hajj, also spelled Hadjdg or Hadj, in Islam, refers to the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia which every adult Muslim must make at least once in his or her lifetime, provided they are physically fit and financially able.  It is the fifth of the fundamental practices and institutions known as the Five Pillars of Islam.

By tradition, the pilgrimage is undertaken between the 7th and 12th days of the last month of the Islamic Year which, in this case, is from 30 January to 02 February 2004.  In Mecca, pilgrims are obliged to perform seven rituals, including walking seven times around the Ka’aba shrine.   They must also visit holy places outside Mecca and commemorate the trials of the prophet Abraham and his family.

 Over two million Muslims worldwide perform the pilgrimage annually. END