By Ali G. Macabalang

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COTABATO CITY – Malacañang and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) have opted to harmonize hajj-related operations by the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) and the Bangsamoro Pilgrimage Authority (BPA) of the regional autonomous government in what stakeholders lauded as a “timely move” to avoid possible confusions or conflict in the handling of hajj goers within and outside the area of autonomy.

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on April 3 issued a “guidance” clarifying that the NCMF, having jurisdiction over local and national affairs involving Muslim Filipinos, “shall remain to be officially recognized as the sole government agency in charge of hajj matters in the country,” DFA Assistant Secretary Mardomel Celo Melicor said on April 12.

With respect to its mandate under R.A. 11054, the BPA of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) shall be “responsible for the processing of applications of pilgrims within the BARMM” and shall endorse to the NCMF such applications for inclusion in the list of all applying hajj goers across the country, Melicod said, quoting the same instruction from the Palace.

Pilgrims from the BARMM are entitled to the same level of services provided by the NCMF and concerned entities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), according to Secretary Bersamin’s instruction.

The advisories from the Palace and the DFA were contained in separate letters reportedly sent to the NCMF and the BPA-BARMM. Copies of the same were posted online by the BARMM’s Bangsamoro Information Office (BIO).

The national initiatives came after the BPA had reportedly communicated with the DFA, asking for endorsement to the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah in Jeddah, KSA.

DFA Secretary Enrique Manalo has subsequently asked for “guidance” from the Office of the Executive Secretary, who in response issued an advisory prescribing for “a unified front before the Ministry (in KSA), it was learned.

Hajj is required for every qualified Muslim to perform at least once in a lifetime as one of the five pillars of Islam.

Past hajj operations in the country administered by the defunct Office on Muslim Affairs and the succeeding NCMF had entailed hitches in the processes of plane flights and hotel billeting in the kingdom.

According to published reports, all past hajj activities saw some pilgrims complaining about alleged shortchanging in plane fare rates, hotel accommodations and other related activities.

Many shieks (hajj leaders or guides) in areas now covered by the BARMM had demanded the creation of the BPA, ostensibly hoping that their activities would be sanctioned outside the NCMF realm.