Muslim lawmakers want the operations of the annual Hajj for Filipino-Muslim pilgrims to be taken away from the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) and instead be given to the private sector.
This was the suggestion of Lana del Norte Rep. Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo as he revealed that both Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman and Lanao del Norte Rep. Sittie Aminah Dimaporo filed separate bills on the privatization of the hajj operations in the Philippines.
“Every year, may bagong Hajj. Every after Hajj, may bagong investigation. So, we had one for the 2022 Hajj. We had an investigation for the 2023 hajj. Now we are preparing for the 2024 Hajj,” said Dimaporo, also the chair of the Committee on Muslim Affairs, explaining how the Hajj is always plagued with irregularities and burdens for the pilgrims.
“… we were informed by the NCMF that there really is a danger that Hajj 2024 might not occur because of all of these problems that are happening within the NCMF,” he added.
“On the part of the House, the Committee on Muslim Affairs is proposing a possible solution and that is the bills filed by Representative Mujiv Hataman and Lanao del Norte Rep. Sittie Aminah Dimaporo and that is the privatization of the Hajj.”
Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, and this is extremely important to all Muslims. It involves a five-day ritual and a pilgrimage to their holy place of Mecca in KSA.
“So, you have to think about it. Kayo are my Christian Catholic brothers, sisters. If you want to go on a religious pilgrimage to let’s say, to Israel, to see where Jesus was crucified, why do you have to go through a government agency?” Dimaporo asked.
“Why does a government agency have to dictate where you will stay and yung hotel mo and transportation mo? Shouldn’t it be freedom of choice?” he added.
He said he hopes that the bills filed by Hataman and Rep. Aminah Dimaporo will be prioritized, passed on final reading and then enacted into law.
“Hopefully, it will be prioritized and it will pass into third reading before we adjourn, even better before the SONA. But that is one of the things that we hope to accomplish in the Committee of Muslim Affairs, the privatization of the hajj,” Dimaporo said.
For the past years, reports of stranded pilgrims both in Metro Manila and in Saudi Arabia hogged news agencies during the 2022 and 2023 hajj.