JEDDAH, 15 December 2007 — One of the Filipino pilgrims who have arrived recently in the Kingdom to perform Haj has died of stroke in Makkah, Philippine officials said yesterday.
Jelad Padjing Dasid, 64, a retired police officer from Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines, was declared dead on arrival at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Al-Noor Hospital in Makkah, said Philippine Haj Attaché Solaiman Mutya.
Dasid, who was accompanied by one of her daughters, was buried immediately in the holy city, Mutya said.
Dasid was among 5,200 pilgrims expected from Philippines to join an estimated 2 million Muslims performing Haj this season, which will run from Dec. 17 to 22.
About 4,000 Philippine pilgrims have arrived in the Kingdom so far since the first batch of 327 on Nov. 20, with Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), who was on the Dec. 7 flight, as the most prominent.
The Philippine Amerul Haj (head of pilgrims) this year is Commissioner Salic B. Dumarpa of the Labor Department’s National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) in Manila.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has also designated Gov. Mamintal Alonto Adiong Jr. of Lanao del Sur province as her special envoy to help oversee the smooth performance of haj by the delegation. The other prominent pilgrims include members of the House of Representatives Mujib Hataman (Anak Mindanao party-list group) and Yusuf H. Jikiri(1st district of Sulu); Govs. Andal Ampatuan of Maguindanao, Sakur Tan of Sulu, and Sadikul A. Sahali of Tawi-Tawi; Bureau of Immigration intelligence chief Faisal Hussein, and Datu Ali B. Sangki ,executive director of the Office on Muslim Affairs (OMA).
On Dec. 24, Consul General Pendosina N. Lomondot will host the traditional Haj night at the consulate in honor of the pilgrims. Lomondot, who has completed his tour of duty and was due to leave earlier this month, has been asked to stay put in his post pending further notice, Arab News learned.
Lomondot, meanwhile, sent consulate officials to locate the whereabouts of a woman pilgrim who was reportedly held at the Jeddah airport upon her arrival on Tuesday due to problems with her travel papers.
The consulate identified the pilgrim as Saguira Manibpel of Isulan town in the southern province of Sultan Kudarat.
Some 900 pilgrims were also reported to have been stranded at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila since early this week due to the limited number of flights available from Saudi Arabian Airlines, the firm authorized to ferry Filipinos for this year’s haj, a report of the Philippine Daily Inquirer said.
The report said Lanao del Sur Gov. Adiong has sought the help of President Arroyo and the Saudi government to help remedy the situation.
“This is our problem and I hope the president can arrange for additional flights with the Saudi government,” Adiong said.
“With proper arrangement and coordination by the two states, perhaps our own Philippine Airlines can come to the rescue,” Adiong was quoted by the Inquirer as saying.
OMA Executive Director Sangki was also quoted tracing the problem to a memorandum of agreement entered into previously by the Saudi Airlines and the OMA, which allotted space for a maximum of 3,500 pilgrims.
Adiong and Sangki said the airline subsequently prepared for only up to 4,000 pilgrims, not knowing that the number would increase drastically this year.
“I never thought the number of participants to the hajj would reach this big,” Adiong told the Inquirer.
Sangki said that since last week the number of pilgrims from the ARMM provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao and Shariff Kabunsuan had started to swell, prompting him to alert Saudi Ambassador Mohammad Ameen Wali.
