FOR the first time in the history of the chamber, a prayer room for Muslim members, employees, and even guests of the House of Representatives has been designated and opened in time for the observance of the Holy Month of Ramadan.
Conference Room 6 in the Ramon V. Mitra Building has been set aside and designated as a Muslim prayer room starting Tuesday and until the end of Ramadan next month.
Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said he was very pleased to attend the simple opening ceremonies prepared by the House Committee on Muslim Affairs led by its chair Rep. Khalid Dimaporo and vice chair Rep. Bai Dimple Mastura.
“I am extremely grateful to be a part of this very wonderful and noteworthy undertaking of providing a space for our Muslim brothers and sisters to freely exercise their faith, especially during this Holy Month of Ramadan that we all know is very sacred to them,” Romualdez said.
“This is also a recognition of the free exercise of religion and belief of all Muslim Filipinos as enshrined and protected under our Constitution. The more we understand and recognize the religious diversity of the people, the closer we get to eliminating the biases that fuel discrimination in our country,” he added.
Mastura, representative of Maguindanao and Cotabato City’s 1st District, personally made the request for the prayer room to the Speaker in the plenary on the sidelines of the approval on third reading of the P5.268-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for 2023 last September 28, 2022.
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