Al-Qur'an readers representing Cotabato areas and another from Lanao areas won the male and female category, respectively, of the June 30 championships of the 35th National Qur'an Reading Competition (NQRC), the Office on Muslim Affairs (OMA) headed by Datu Ali B. Sangki, executive director, said Wednesday.

Based on OMA's tally of the NQRC judges' scores for the 24 Qur'anic contestants, the new NQRC champions are Ustadhz Daud Abdulgani (male) and Ustadhza Munaifah Bogabong (female).

First runners-up are Ustadhz Mohammad Sedik Guiwan (male) and Ustadhza Suraida Ampatuan (female) while the Second runners-up are Ustadhz Mohammad Sultan Uka (male) and Ustadhza Farhana Yusop (female).

NQRC is an annual event being organized by OMA where regional champions from all over the country compete for the honor and opportunity to represent the Philippines in Qur'anic contests abroad, such as in Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iran, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Brunei, and lately, Russian Federation.

"Qur'an competitions have been become global events where participating Qur'an readers promote Islamic brotherhood and also help foster stronger relations among countries represented," said Sangki.

Last month (June), the OMA official said, Russian Muslims has invited the Philippines to send two representatives to their Qur'anic contests this year.

This year's two champions are going to compete in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in August, while the runners-up are to be sent to other countries, he added.

"We got the results after the competition on Tuesday promptly due to the reforms we initiated on the judging to erase any doubts on the results," said Sangki.

OMA-Bureau of Muslim Cultural Affairs (BMCA) Director Laman Piang, CESO IV, started the reforms in consultations with Sangki, who also had been working to cleanse the NQRC of any clouds of doubt on the results.

Piang vowed to continue effecting reforms not only in the NQRC but also with other programs of OMA-BMCA.

The NQRC's theme this year was "Al-Qur'an: A Message of Peace, Brotherhood, Moderation, and Religious Tolerance."

Envoy from members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) such as Ambassador Mohammad Ameen Wali (guest speaker), Iranian Ambassador Ali Mojtaba Rouzbehani, Libyan Charge d'Affaires Sadek Osman, Malaysian Embassy Second Secretary Mohammad Adli, Indonesian Embassy First Secretary Nur Usman, Egyptian Third Secretary Mariam Mohammed Fadel, Iranian Cultural Attache Shahaboddin Darae, Iranian Cultural Office Researcher Bahman Samadi, among others, joined OMA and other guests in the NQRC.