By Roy Ramos
ZAMBOANGA, the Philippines (AA) - A Philippines army division based in the Muslim south will host an Eid al-Fitr congregational prayer Wednesday -- the first such event since soldiers started fighting Muslim rebels two decades ago.
Newly-installed President Rodrigo Duterte has declared Wednesday a non-working holiday for all government employees, in observance with the end of the fasting month of Ramadan which this year the Philippines celebrates July 6.
Capt. Joann Petinglay, spokesperson for the army's 6th Infantry Division, said Tuesday that the division will open its camp in the conflict-wracked province of Maguindanao for an outdoor Eid prayer for the area's surrounding Muslims.
Muslim leaders, officials and clerics in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) have hailed the gesture, initiated by its commander, Maj. Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan, who has been described as a "military peace-activist".
The division has been operating for 20 years in Maguindanao and other neighboring predominantly Muslim provinces, where soldiers have figured in scores of fierce and bloody battles with rebels.
Maguindanao is the bastion of the country's one time largest rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Since 2014, the group has been involved in a peace deal with the government which will grant greater autonomy to the majority Muslim provinces.
“We have 800 Muslim soldiers in the division and our commander wants to show to them that religions should not set boundaries among us. We are all siblings, believing in one God,” Petinglay said in a statement.
On Tuesday, Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said in a separate statement that the Eid al-Fitr initiative will convince the Moro communities of the division's dedication and sincerity in helping push the Mindanao peace process forward.
“It’s something so laudable. Worthy of emulation by other major military units in the autonomous region,” Hataman said.
The ARMM regional government has political and administrative jurisdiction over Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, which are both in mainland Mindanao, and the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi -- common bastions of the MILF and one-time masters, the Moro National Liberation Front.