#WalangPasok – September 21 2017 declared holiday in some Mindanao provinces
Filipino Muslims will be joining their brothers and sisters around the world in observing Amun Jadid or the Islamic New Year this September 21, Thursday. Amun Jadid marks the first day of the first lunar month of Muharram (Muharram 1, 1439).
It is one of the five Muslim holidays observed in the Philippines as mandated by then-dictator Ferdinand Marcos’ Presidential Decree 1083.
The day is a legal holiday in several provinces in Mindanao according to a memorandum signed by Attorney Yaser H. Apion, officer-in-charge of National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF). The holiday proclamation covers the following areas in Mindanao:
Provinces
1) Basilan
2) Lanao del Norte
3) Lanao del Sur
4) Maguindanao
5) North Cotabato
6) Sultan Kudarat
7) Sulu
8) Tawi-Tawi
9) Zamboanga del Norte
10) Zamboanga del Sur
Cities
1) Cotabato City
2) Iligan City
3) Marawi City
4) Pagadian City
5) Zamboanga
Just like other Islamic holidays including Eid’l Fitr and Eid’l Adha, the NCMF determined the final date for the celebration of Amun Jadid based on hijra or the Muslim lunar calendar.
Article 172 of PD 1083 also states that all Muslim government officials and employees working in places other than the aforementioned provinces and cities including Metro Manila are excused from reporting for work so they can observe the holiday.
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