Eid'l Fitr: "If tears can be collected..."
“If tears can only be collected...” The feast of Eid’l Fitr this year is the most emotional celebration. Marawi residents, under normal circumstances, could have converged in the oval of Mindanao State University-main campus for their collective prayer. But with Marawi Crisis still unresolved, they gathered at the amphitheater of Iligan city while others settled in available spaces of evacuees’ host communities. “Of more than a hundred mosques in Marawi, only three mosques are available for prayers. Many of our imams, like our constituents, are also evacuees,” said Zia Alonto, spokesperson of the province of Lanao del Sur's crisis situation. “This is the most emotional Eid’l Fitr for us because many of us can’t be with our families for the feast. This is supposed to be a day for forgiveness and thanksgiving, but our situation deprived us the opportunity to be closer with our families,” Zia said. “I wish this is the last Eid to celebrate as evacuee,”said lawyer Halillah