Appeals for community interfaith solidarity cap off Eid'l Fitr in BARMM

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March 21, 2026 | 5:39pm

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Local executives in the Bangsamoro region took turns reassuring commitments to the Mindanao peace process after participating in congregational outdoor Eid’l Fitr prayers in different areas on Saturday morning, March 21.

The Eid’l Fitr marks the end of the Islamic Ramadan fasting season and the start of the month of Shawwal in the lunar-based Hijrah calendar. Fasting at daytime during Ramadan is one of the five fundamentals of the Islamic faith, which also includes absolute belief in Allah, praying five times a day facing west, giving of alms to the poor, and, for those who can afford the cost of travel, performing the hajj, or pilgrimage to Makkah in Saudi Arabia.  

Chief Minister Abdulrauf Macacua of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao told reporters on Saturday morning that the Eid’l Fitr prayer rites in all of the five provinces and three cities in BARMM were peaceful, with most designated worship sites guarded together by Christian and Muslim soldiers and policemen.

“The Bangsamoro government is focused on fostering religious tolerance and interfaith unity among the Muslims, Christians and the indigenous communities in all provinces and cities under its jurisdiction,” said Macacua, who was among some 2,000 worshipers who performed the Eid'l Fitr rites at the BARMM capitol in uptown Cotabato City.

Basilan Gov. Mujiv Hataman, who was with thousands of worshipers in a public grandstand in Isabela City, emphasized in his Eid’l Fitr message the importance of reconciliation and interfaith peace and security dialogues in sustaining the noticeable peace now spreading around their island province.

“Besides the essence of reconciliation, Eid’l Fi’tr reminds us of the importance of unity and cooperation in promoting peace and sustainable development in our communities,” said Hataman, who had served as regional governor of the now-defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao prior to its replacement in 2019 with a more administratively-empowered BARMM.

Two members of the 80-seat Bangsamoro parliament, the lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo and the physician-ophthalmologist Kadil Sinolinding, Jr., who is also serving as BARMM’s regional health minister in concurrent capacity, had separately appealed to residents of BARMM to continue supporting the peace and sustainable development thrusts of their respective local government units and all agencies under the office of Macacua.

Sinolinding said Islam has tacit teachings on religious tolerance and ecumenism that can help bolster the bond among Muslims and non-Muslims, together pushing common regional peacebuilding initiatives forward. 

“Peace is a requisite for economic progress in the autonomous region, something that we need to achieve via multi-sector cooperation, done as one community, regardless of religions and ethnic, or tribal identities,” Sinarimbo said.

BARMM Labor and Employment Minister Muslimin Sema, chairman of the central committee of the Moro National Liberation Front, said the Christian, Muslim and non-Moro indigenous communities in the autonomous region also ought to continue cooperating in protecting the gains of the national government’s separate peace compacts with the MNLF and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

“These two peace agreements are products of longtime peace talks, paid with blood and tears of the Moro people. The Muslims and Christians in the Bangsamoro region have to keep working for the achievement of the peace and development agenda of these two peace agreements. Religions must not divide us. Religious solidarity is what we partly need to achieve lasting peace in our homeland, Sema said.

Major Gen. Jose Vladimir Cagara, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, and Brig. Gen. Jaysen De Guzman, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, had separately told reporters that Saturday morning's Eid’l Fitr open-field prayer rites in areas guarded by their units were peaceful and orderly.

“Credit for that goes to the local residents themselves and their local government officials who supported extensively our Eid’l Fitr security missions,” said Cagara, who, besides being 6th ID commander, is also overseeing the Army's anti-terror Joint Task Force Central covering six provinces and five cities in Central Mindanao.

Muslim soldiers at the 6th ID’s headquarters performed their obligatory Eid’l Fitr outdoor prayers outside a mosque just a few meters away from their headquarters in Camp Siongco in Barangay Awang in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte. Their division Islamic preacher, Major Alinair Guro, led the worship rites that Muslims from residential areas nearby also attended.

Muslims end their month-long fasting, from dawn to dusk, during Ramadan season, on the eve of Eid’l Fitr. Physically-fit Muslims abstain from food and drink at daytime during the Ramadan as a religious obligation. They also focus on reparations for wrongdoings and reconciliation with adversaries during the period.