SEA Games organizers ‘ignored’ NCMF on halal, Muslim officials say

The National Commission on Muslim Filipino tried on several occasions to coordinate with the organizers of the 30th Southeast Asian Games about the need of Muslim athletes for halal food and other facilities but were only told to wait, NCMF officials have said.

NCMF information officer Ramadan Aguan said NCMF director Dimapuno Datu-Ramos Jr. took up the need for halal food, Qiblah markers, ablution areas, and prayer rooms with the games organizers in September.

"'Yun na yung parang first and last na invitation nila sa opisina namin regarding sa preparation ng SEA Games," Aguan told GMA News Online.

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Datu-Ramos said the NCMF was always the one following up the needs of Muslim athletes.

“I told them about that during the meeting. The Qiblah markers, ablution areas, separate prayer room, halal food, etc., but it was always the same answer from them: We will contact you," Datu-Ramos said on Facebook.

"They did initially, but then it was the NCMF-BER who was always following up and offering to help,” he added.

On Monday, Singapore teams wrote to the organizers to seek “urgent and immediate attention” after they faced issues with accreditation, transportation, and the lack of “sufficient halal food.”

A number of southeast Asian countries are either predominantly Muslim or have Islam as their official religion, including Brunei, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

“We were ignored. Sana kung hindi lang kami na-ignore do’n, napaghandaan man lang ‘yan. Hindi tayo napahiya,” Aguan said.

Datu-Ramos said NCMF had the capacity to provide the manpower and expertise that would have helped avoid the problems.

"We told the PHISGOC (Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee) people about this, even approached them several times during the meeting and via text messages,” Datu-Ramos said.

GMA News Online has sought comment from chief SEA Games organizer Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano but has yet to receive any as of posting time. —NB, GMA News