President Benigno Aquino III has declared the 15th of October this year as a regular holiday throughout the Philippines in observance of Eid-ul Adha or the Feast of Sacrifice.

MALACAÑAN PALACE

MANILA

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES

PROCLAMATION NO. 658

WHEREAS, Republic Act No 9849 provides that Eidul Adha shall be celebrated as a regular holiday;

WHEREAS, Eidul Adha is one of the two greatest feasts of Islam;

WHEREAS, the date of the festival is based on the declaration made by Saudi Arabia’s highest religious body;

WHEREAS, the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) recommended that the observance of Eidul Adha be on 15 October 2013 and the Eidul Adha prayer be performed on the final declaration of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BENIGNO S. AQUINO III, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby declare Tuesday, 15 October 2013, as a regular holiday throughout the country, in observance of Eidul Adha (Feast of Sacrifice).

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.

Done in the City of Manila, this 3rd day of October, in the year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Thirteen.

(Sgd.) BENIGNO S. AQUINO III

By the President:

(Sgd.) PAQUITO N. OCHOA JR.

Executive Secretary

In Jewish and Christian tradition, Abraham is told by God to sacrifice his son Isaac (ʾIsḥāq) and at the last minute is stopped, at which point a ram is provided to sacrifice instead. In Islamic tradition, it is typically believed that Abraham is told to sacrifice his son Ishmael, not Isaac, though the Quran does not actually state which son. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmael_in_Islam