RIYADH — Philippines Ambassador Adnan V. Alonto, together with other Muslim personnel from the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, Philippine Consulate and POLO in Jeddah, welcomed the first batches of Filipino Pilgrims to this year’s Haj pilgrimage.

A total of 668 Filipino Haj pilgrims are now in Madinah to visit the Prophet’s Mosque en route to Makkah in preparation for the final Haj ritual on Aug. 19-23.

Three hundred thirty three Filipino Haj pilgrims landed at the Prince Muhammad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah on Sunday — brought by Saudi flight SV 861. Another three hundred thirty five pilgrims on Saudia flight SV 871 also arrived around 5:30 a.m. on Monday.

Around 6,000 Filipino Haj pilgrims will perform this year’s Haj according to officials of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF), who were also at the airport to guide and accompany the pilgrims to their transportation and accommodations in the city.

The Haj is an annual pilgrimage to Makkah and Madinah, the two holiest cities for Muslims, and a mandatory duty that must be carried out at least once in the lifetime of all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey, and who can support their family during their absence.

For this year’s Haj, Saudi Arabia expects to host some 2 million Muslim pilgrims from all over the world.

Prior to the formal establishment of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Saudi Arabia on Oct. 24, 1969, Filipino Muslims were already making the annual pilgrimage to the Kingdom immediately after Philippine Independence in 1946.

It is a significant component of the bilateral relations between the Philippines and Kingdom, not only for its cultural and religious significance, but for the goodwill and economic opportunities it brings in the course of the interactions between the Filipinos and other different nationalities during the Haj period. — SG