JIM PAREDES, ACCUSED THE DUTERTE GOVERNMENT OF TRYING TO SABOTAGE THE CELEBRATION OF NINOY AQUINO DAY BY MAKING AUGUST 21, A MUSLIM HOLIDAY

Legendary OPM artist Jim Paredes raised the eyebrows of the netizens again after he accused the Duterte government of trying to sabotage the celebration of Ninoy Aquino Day by making August 21, a Muslim Holiday.This year Eid al-Adha, also called the “Festival of Sacrifice” was celebrated on the same date with the 35th death anniversary of former Senator Benigno Aquino Jr.

Because of this, Duterte government declared Eid al-Adha, as a National Holiday, incidentally, August 21 also marks Ninoy Aquino Day, a special non-working holiday.

Paredes believed that the Duterte government intentionally marked August 21 as a ‘Muslim Holiday’ as an attempt to ‘downplay’ Ninoy Aquino Day.

This is what he said in his tweet: Today Is Ninoy Aquino Day. Changing it to a Muslim Holiday which actually falls tomorrow is a brazen attempt to downplay the hero’s death anniversary. Nothing can dimish what Ninoy has done for this country.

In response, netizen Raheel Akman Abas slammed Paredes for his insensitive tweet which offended the Muslim community.

She explained that Eid al-Adha was not being decided by Malacañang, but by the Hijri or Lunar calendar.

Last year the said festival was celebrated on August 31.

Abas also urged Paredes to consult Muslims first before posting conclusions on his social media account.

Dear Mr. Jim Paredes, we celebrate our Eid not based on Malacañang’s declaration of holiday. Confirmation from Darul Iftas from our country and other neighboring countries comes first. Please do your research about our moonsighting and our Hijrah calendar po. You should’ve consulted/confirmed it with Islam believers before posting something like this para hindi naman po naniniwala agad yung iba (na hindi rin gumawa ng research) na yun ang reason bakit holiday ngayon. God bless you!

She was also worried because some of Paredes’ followers believed what he said on his tweet.

“Nastress ako bigla pagkabasa ko. Basta may masabi lang siya against sa Duterte Administration kahit kulang siya sa info, go lang siya. Huhu. Dami pang blind followers na nag-agree din. Kaloka.” Abas said.

Some netizens also criticized Paredes for his tweet.

“Ang ganda ganda ng araw until i saw this.” Alraji Magarang said.

“Paki educate sya pls… Alangan naman ang moon ang mag adjust.” Alhoudiery Saripullah commented.

“These people’s acts really reflect how they really look upon us. Di man lang nila naisip na the Muslim Community would react had it been actually wrong. Tsk2x. They are treating us like idiots. This guy and those who agreed with him. Hays,” Al Ammen Silo remarked