By Paulo Loreto Lim

Eid al-Adha, considered the most important festival on the Islamic calendar and formally declared a regular holiday in the Philippines by President Rodrigo Duterte last week, officially kicks off tomorrow, April 21.

In the Islamic faith, Eid al-Adha is known as the “feast of sacrifice” and is a time for Muslim families to come together.

The observance commemorates the story of Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son for God, with the latter swapping the son for a goat prior to the sacrifice. Traditionally, Muslim families will sacrifice an animal during the holiday to honor the act of devotion.

The festival runs for a total of four days, with many Muslim countries declaring holidays for the entirety of the observance.

Eid al-Fitr, a separate Muslim observance, took place earlier this year and marks the end of the month-long fasting period known as Ramadan.

Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reminded employers of the adjusted pay scale for workers expected to be on the job during non-working holidays.

According to the advisory, workers are entitled to 200 percent of their regular pay for the first eight hours. Any work that exceeds the ascribed eight hours is subject to a 30 percent bump to the employee’s regular rate./PLL, WDJ