Muslims in the Philippines will mark Saturday, April 22, as Eid’l Fitr or the end of Ramadan, even as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has already declared today, Friday, as a holiday to observe the feast day of the holy month.
The Bangsamoro Darul-Ifta’ in the Philippines, which serves as the Islamic Advisory Council of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), declared Saturday as the end of Ramadan as the crescent moon was not sighted on Thursday, April 20, according to Shiek Abuhuraira Udasan, the Grand Mufti of the Bangsamoro region.
This developed as the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Thursday reminded employers in the private sector to pay their employees double should they render work on Friday as the country joins the Muslim community around the world to celebrate Eid’l Fitr.
In an advisory, Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma reminded employers to be guided on how to compensate their workers on Friday, declared by Malacanang as a regular holiday, and employees are entitled to 200 percent pay if they report for work.
Those who will render work during a regular holiday will be paid atotal of 200 percent of the employee’s wage for that day for the first eight hours (Basic wage times 200 percent).
For work done over eight hours, the worker will receive an additional 30 percent of the hourly rate on that day (Hourly rate of the basic wage x 200 percent × 130 percent x number of hours worked).
Should the worker report for work on his rest day, the employer shall pay the worker an additional 30 percent of the basic wage of 200 percent (Basic wage x 200 percent x 130 percent).
For work done more than eight hours during a regular holiday that also falls on the worker’s rest day, the employer shall pay the employee an additional 30 percent of the hourly rate on such day (Hourly rate of the basic wage x 200 percent x 130 percent x number of hours worked).
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. issued Proclamation No. 201 declaring April 21 as a regular holiday in the entire country in observance of Eid’l Fitr.
Mr. Marcos signed Proclamation No. 201 after the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) recommended to declare the date a national holiday.
“In order to bring the religious and cultural significance of the Eid’l Fitr to the fore of national consciousness, and to allow the entire Filipino nation to join their Muslim brothers and sisters in peace and harmony in the observance and celebration of Eid’l Fitr, it is necessary to declare Friday, 21 April 2023, a regular holiday throughout the country,” the proclamation read.
Eid’l Fitr, one of the two most important Islamic celebrations, is observed by the Muslim community three days after the month-long Ramadan fasting.
The other important celebration, Eid al-Adha of The Feast of the Sacrifice, is celebrated on the 10th day of the last month of the Islamic calendar and commemorates the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son to God. Vince Lopez
Eid al-Adha also marks the end of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, the 5th Pillar of Islam.
Muslim Filipinos comprise about six percent of the population.
To honor the country’s Islamic heritage, the government in 2002 established Eid’l Fitr as a regular holiday by virtue of Republic Act 9177 and Presidential Proclamation 1083.
The holiday is determined by the use of the lunar-based Islamic calendar through the sighting of the crescent moon in the Islamic month of Shawwal.
