The Muslim community in this Antique’s capital town of San Jose de Buenavista on Wednesday joined the observance of the Eid al-Adha in thanksgiving for having a peaceful place to stay in the province.

Hanan Abdul Ustad, one of the Muslim community leaders in San Jose de Buenavista, said that Eid al-Adha, which is the Feast of Sacrifice, is a day of expressing their gratitude as they were ushered to settle in the peaceful province of Antique.

“Antique is a home away from home for us,” Ustad, who has been staying in Antique for several years, said in an interview.

He said that various Muslim groups composed of around 1,000 households from Marawi and other provinces in Mindanao are mostly found in San Jose de Buenavista.

They were lured by their relatives who settled in the province as early as the 1970s.

He said that they had found peaceful existence, which they had been longing for, and livelihood opportunities like trading and fishing for their families to survive in Antique.

Ustad said they converged in their mosque as early as 4 a.m. for their prayers.

San Jose de Buenavista Municipal Police Station (MPS) Community Affairs Development head, Master Sergeant Carlo Oribe said Muslim families have settled in Barangays San Fernando and in Poblacion 3 and Poblacion 4.

“The Muslims have also established mosques in the three barangays where they reside,” Oribe said in a separate interview.

He said that there are Muslims who have engaged in the trading of fabric and other wares that they ship from Mindanao.

“The Muslim communities are also well organized and support the programs being implemented by the police,” Oribe said.

In celebration of the Eid’l Adha, San Jose de Buenavista MPS conducted an outreach program in the Muslim community in Barangay 4 where around 50 children benefitted from the free feeding and 20 families received packs of rice as gifts. (PNA)