Lawyer Guialil Kanda, National Commission on Muslim Filipinos provincial director. (File photo courtesy of the Sarangani Communications Service)
GENERAL SANTOS CITY – An official of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) here advised on Thursday prospective Hajj pilgrims to brace for its possible cancelation due to the coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19) outbreak.
Lawyer Guialil Kanda, NCMF provincial director, said there is a big possibility that the scheduled pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, this year would be scrapped in the wake of the declaration by the World Health Organization of the highly contagious disease as a pandemic.
Kanda said they already considered such a scenario in a meeting last week at the NCMF central office.
“There’s a possibility that our pilgrims would be denied entry to Saudi Arabia even if we will allow them to go,” he told reporters.
Millions of Muslims worldwide were expected to join the annual Hajj or the pilgrimage to Kaaba, the "House of Allah" in Mecca, which was set in late July to early August.
The Saudi government expanded in late February its ban on foreigners visiting Mecca and Medina, which are home to the holiest sites in Islam, due to the Covid-19 threat.
Kanda said they will still accept registrations for the Hajj until March 15 based on the earlier deadline set by the agency, although he urged registered pilgrims to temporarily defer the processing of travel arrangements.
Instead, he advised them to wait for the official announcements from the NCMF, which handles the processing of visa for Hajj pilgrims through its Bureau of Pilgrimage and Endowment.
Each pilgrim had been advised to prepare at least PHP200,000 for the travel arrangements and accommodation.
“They should keep their money in the meantime as it might be difficult to get them back easily if the Hajj would be canceled,” he added. (PNA)
