Malacañang advised the public Sunday to wait for a formal proclamation from the Office of the President on whether October 26 will be a holiday to mark Eidul Adha.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said that as of now, there is still no official confirmation yet from the Palace on whether Oct. 26 has been designated to mark the religious fest.

“We are waiting for the proclamation. I cannot confirm if it is really October 26. I asked and was told it [proclamation] would be forthcoming,” she said on government-run dzRB radio.

President Benigno Aquino III’s Proclamation 295, which specified holidays for 2012, had said the dates for Eid’l Fitr and Eidul Adha will be determined in accordance with the Islamic calendar (Hijra) or the lunar calendar, or upon Islamic astronomical calculations.

It added the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) shall inform the Office of the President on which day the holiday shall fall.

Earlier reports and some websites had indicated Eidul Adha will fall on October 26.

Eidul Adha, the feast of sacrifice, is an important religious holiday marking the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael as an act of obedience to God.

Like a similar story in the Old Testament, God intervened and provided Abraham with a sheep to sacrifice instead of his son. — LBG, GMA News