BARMM to emulate Indonesia’s efficient hajj program handling

COTABATO CITY— The Bangsamoro government is planning to copy the Indonesian government’s “best practices” in managing the yearly hajj pilgrimage to Makkah in Saudi Arabia for its citizens.

In a statement Wednesday, the Bangsamoro Information Office (BIO) said that a team from the Bangsamoro Pilgrimage Authority (BPA) toured Indonesia from December 11 to 15 to study its government’s efficient handling of its annual hajj programs for thousands of Indonesians.

Performing the hajj in Makkah is one of the so-called "five pillars of Islam" that include belief in Allah, praying five times a day facing west, giving of alms to the poor and fasting from dawn to dusk during the Ramadhan, that lasts for one lunar cycle, or 28 days, as a sacrifice and reparation for wrongdoings.

Indonesia is known throughout Asia for its efficient handling of its yearly hajj activities.

BPA’s deputy executive director, Abdulkahar Victor, said on Wednesday that they are thankful to officials of different Indonesian agencies managing their government’s hajj activities for providing them insights on how they manage the yearly religious activity.

"To them we are grateful," Victor said, adding that they were impressed with Indonesia's efficient hajj program.

The National Commission on Muslim Filipinos has perennially been subject of criticisms by local pilgrims who complain about poor accommodation and transport provisions after each hajj season.

The BIO said that the study tour by BPA officials to Indonesia was assisted by the Hidayatullah Organization, led by its Head of International Relations, Dzikrullah Pramudya and the Alhuffaz Charity Foundation in Southern Philippines Incorporated.

The lawyer Hadji Nabil Alfad Tan, deputy speaker in the 80-seat Bangsamoro parliament, on Wednesday said that he is ready to help draft bills for regional laws that can ensure the welfare of constituents from six provinces and three cities in the Bangsamoro region who are to perform the hajj in Saudi Arabia every year.