The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Thursday said that Muslim Filipinos have experienced a smooth Hajj mission to Saudi Arabia for two consecutive years.

During the DILG Kapihan in Quezon City, the National Commission for Muslim Filipinos, (NCMF) represented by Executive Director Tahir Lidasan Jr., noted that no pilgrim encountered inconvenience during this religious activity from 2024-2025: “We have 0 complaints for the past 2 years of the Hajj.” NCMF is an attached agency of the DILG

Lidasan noted that pilgrims were all housed in 4-star facilities, addressing concerns over substandard and unequal accommodations.

The Hajj is a mandatory pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia that every able Muslim must perform at least once in their lifetime. NCMF acts as the oversight agency in ensuring smooth arrangements for annual Hajj missions.

NCMF attributed the improvements in Hajj operations to increased government funding. Based on the General Appropriations Act for FY 2026, the Commission received a P1.3B appropriation, including an increase in Hajj funding from P56.5M to P84.9M for 5,000 Muslim Filipino pilgrims this year.

The Commission also plans to strengthen regional offices nationwide. “Papalakasin namin ang mga serbisyo outside the BARMM to complement any services given by the government,” Lidasan said.

To ensure transparency, the Commission adopted the electronic new government accounting system (ENGAS) to ensure less human interventions in their operations and ensure that resources will go down the grassroots. This supports DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla’s call for transparent and accountable utilization of public funds.

Meanwhile, the NCMF revived the International Islamic Finance Conference (IIFC) to strengthen Islamic finance in the country and make the Philippines part of the Halal economy. The 5th IIFC in February supports President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s call to elevate the Islamic finance in the country as part of ASEAN Chairship preparations.