Basilan lone district Rep. Mujiv Hataman believes the approval of the National Hijab Day Bill by both chambers of Congress will be a “big win in the fight against religious discrimination".
Hataman said this as he asked the Senate to pass a counterpart measure to House Bill (HB) No. 5693, which has already been approved by his fellow congressmen last year.
The House of Representatives unanimously voted for the passage of the bill on third and final reading on Nov. 15, 2022. There were no negative votes or abstentions.
The measure is a consolidation of HB Nos. 1363, 5736, and 3725, which were principally authored by Maguindanao and Cotabato City 1st district Rep. Bai Dimple Mastura, Lanao del Norte 1st district Rep. Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo, and Hataman, respectively.
It has already been transmitted to the Senate, whose version has already been approved at the committee level and waiting for second reading deliberations in plenary.
“As we commemorate World Hijab Day with the rest of the world, it is my sincerest prayer that this measure passes the Senate’s scrutiny. Sana (I hope) this time around, maging batas na ito para sa susunod na taon ay National Hijab Day na ang ating ipinagdiriwang (it will become a law so that we will celebrate the National Hijab Day next year),” Hataman said.
Feb. 1 marks the annual World Hijab Day in recognition of millions of Muslim women who wear the hijab, a head cover that symbolizes modesty and privacy, as well as the submission to the Islamic law and customs.
READ: Bill declaring Feb 1 as ‘National Hijab Day’ hurdles House plenary
Hataman’s office, in cooperation with the House Committee on Muslim Affairs chaired by Rep. Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo, prepared a short program in the House of Representatives to commemorate this year’s World Hijab Day.
Its commemoration was held at the House North Wing Lobby, with Speaker Martin Romualdez and his wife, Tingog Party-list Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez, Bulacan 4th disrict Rep. Linabelle Ruth Villarica, and Mastura as guests and speakers.
“We celebrate the 10th World Hijab Day, an annual event that we celebrate with the rest of the world in recognition of a very basic human right: the right to the free exercise of religion, a right that is enshrined in our very Constitution,” the Speaker said.
“In this instance, it is to recognize the right of every Muslim woman who chooses to wear the hijab as an expression of her faith,” he said.
Also present were representatives from the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos and the University of the Philippines (UP) Institute for Islamic Studies.
“Ang hijab ay simbolo ng dangal at dignidad ng mga Muslim, hindi instrumento ng diskriminasyon. Kaya naman, tinatawagan ko ang mga kagalang-galang nating mga senador na aprubahan na ang National Hijab Day Bill, para nang sa gayon ay masimulan na ang pambansang pagmumulat at pagtutuwid ng maling kaalaman (Hijab is a symbol of honor and dignity of Muslims, it’s not an instrument of discrimination. It’s why I’m caling on our honorable senators to approve the National Hijab Day Bill in order to begin the national awareness and rectification of the wrong information),” Hataman explained.
The former governor of the now-defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) took note of his proposal to have an educational campaign to increase the level of awareness about the Muslim tradition of wearing hijab, which is a part of their spiritual freedom.
“Nagsisimula ang diskriminasyon sa isip, sa maling paniniwala, na maitutuwid lamang sa pamamagitan ng tamang pagtuturo sa kahalagahan ng hijab sa kultura at pananampalataya ng mga Moro (Discrimination starts in the mind, in wrong beliefs, that can only be rectified through the right teaching on the importance of hijab in the culture and faith of the Moros),” he said.