An official of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos admitted on Tuesday that Filipino pilgrims encountered problems in travel arrangements for this year’s Hajj pilgrimage, but objected to privatizing it.
During the hearing of the House Committee on Public Accounts, NCMF Commissioner Sammer Allong said issues included food, transportation and accommodation, which he attributed to the volume of pilgrims this 2023, after COVID-19 restriction that were in place since 2020 were eased.
“I agree somehow with the food problem, the lack of food, the transportation problem and the accommodation, nagkaroon ng problema talaga… We from NCMF, we admit that, opo may problema po talaga dyan, and kailangan natin yan pagtulungan,” Allong told the panel.
“Remember this is 7,500 pilgrims, hindi po ito makakaya ng isang daang empleyado ng NCMF… Three, two years, hindi nagkaroon ang Saudi Arabia ng ganito kalaki, the biggest hajj contingent sa Saudi Arabia… only 2023, kaya nabigla ang lahat. Even the private providers,” he added.
Allong tagged as “profit-driven” the calls to privatize Hajj arrangements.
“This is profit-driven suggestion ng mga businessman. If we’re really concerned about the people… we should not privatize the Hajj,” he said.
But for Atty. Haron Ali, privatizing the travel arrangements for Hajj will allow stakeholders to sue private service providers if contracts are breached.
“We are clamoring for the immediate privatization of the Hajj so that we can enjoy this. If it is privatized, private service providers could be held liable once they breach contract. In this particular case, we cannot sue the service provider in Saudi Arabias, because it should be the NCMF who should sue the service provider in Saudi Arabia. If it is privatized, we can ask the service provider to pay for damages,” he explained.
Committee Chairperson Joseph Stephen Paduano said the panel will consider the proposal.
The committee will continue hearing on NCMF’s utilization of funds for Hajj pilgrimage on November 14.
Source: news.abs
