There are around 200,000 Muslims living in the Philippine capital Muslims constitute five percent of the mostly Catholic population MANILA: Thousands of Filipino Muslims gathered in Manila on Saturday for Eid Al-Fitr prayers followed by picnics to celebrate the end of Ramadan. In the predominantly Catholic Philippines, Muslims constitute roughly five percent of the country’s population of 110 million. Most of them live on the island of Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago in the country’s south, as well as in the central-western province of Palawan. There are about 200,000 Muslims living in the Philippine capital and those who came to the Quirino Grandstand of Luneta Park came to uphold the tradition of Eid gatherings at the historic ground. The gatherings began many years ago as the Muslim community grew and Luneta Park was chosen in an attempt to accommodate all of its members on the special day marking the end of a month of fasting. HIGHLIGHT Muslims constitute roughly 5 percent of the country’s population of 110 million. There are about 200,000 Muslims living in the Philippine capital and those who came to the Quirino Grandstand of Luneta Park came to uphold the tradition of Eid gatherings at the historic ground. “There was a need for an open space and that’s where it all started ... There was a request to allow the holding of congregational prayers during Eid in Luneta,” Shey Sakaluran Mohammad, head of the Manila Office of Muslim Affairs, told Arab News. “There are 27 mosques in Manila but, due to the growing population, they could no longer accommodate all the faithful.” After Eid prayers on Saturday, participants joined together in a picnic where food was brought both individually and by NGOs, while street vendors sold snacks, toys and colorful balloons to eager children. Zenaida Alao, a resident of Paranaque City, has been participating in Eid celebrations at Luneta Park for years. “Every year since 2016 we’ve been coming here to pray during Eid, the whole family,” she told Arab News, as she bought a balloon for her niece. For Dr. Potre D. Diampuan from the Women’s Interfaith Network, Eid is a time of togetherness, at which to share joy and blessings. “Everybody should be happy,” she said. “It’s the time to get together, to visit friends, relatives, families ... It is highly encouraged to congregate in one huge gathering ... It always brings out the unity in the umma.”