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Romualdez OKs request for Muslim prayer room in House

Philippines | National

Romualdez OKs request for Muslim prayer room in House

By Ellson Quismorio

House Speaker Martin Romualdez has granted a request from a Mindanao solon to have a prayer room inside Batasang Pambansa Complex for Muslim legislators including the employees there.

House Speaker Martin Romualdez (left) and Maguindanao and Cotabato City 1st district Rep Bai Dimple Mastura (Facebook)

Maguindanao and Cotabato City 1st district Rep. Bai Dimple Mastura personally made the request to Romualdez in the plenary on the sidelines of the third reading approval of the P5.268-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for 2023 last Sept. 28.

Romualdez, who represents Leyte’s 1st district, instantly gave her the thumbs up.

In a subsequent Facebook post, the House leader thanked Mastura for letting him know about the needs of his Muslim brethren at Batasang Pambansa, which is the home of the House of Representatives.

"Ang pagkakaloob sa kahilingan na ito na magkaroon ang House of Representatives of the Philippines ng Muslim prayer room ay patunay na ang Kongreso ay malaya at nagkakaisa, anuman ang iyong relihiyon at paniniwala (The granting of the request to have a Muslim prayer room in the House of Representatives is proof that Congress is an inclusive space for everyone regardless of faith or religion)," Romualdez's post read.

Mastura, a neophyte member of the 19th Congress, recently called out the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) after it allegedly served food with pork to the Muslim and Seventh-Day Adventist inmates.

She immediately filed a resolution urging the House to conduct an investigation in aid of legislation to avoid similar incidents from happening in the future.

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