1 million expected at INC event

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MANILA- Philippines (Eagle News Service) — Hundreds of thousands to a million participants are expected to turn up at the Metro Manila site of the Iglesia Ni Cristo World Wide Walk for survivors of super typhoon Yolanda on  Saturday, February 15, which will also be held in 85 other sites in the Philippines and in 55 sites abroad.

The global walk for a cause on Feb. 15 is expected to be a record-breaking event as not just Filipinos, but also citizens of other countries have registered to participate in the walkathon to generate funds to help the “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) victims in the Philippines, according to its organizers.

Delegates from INC congregations all over the world will converge in 140 different sites around the globe at exactly 7 a.m. in their respective time zones.   The first to start the “walk” will be the delegates in New Zealand at 2 a.m. Philippine time, organizers said.   This will be followed by Australia, whose delegates will walk for the Yolanda survivors at 4 a.m. Philippine Standard time.  (New Zealand time is ahead of the Philippines by five hours, while Australia has a time difference of four hours).

There are sites for the walk in Western Australia, Melbourne, Sydney/Queensland, Adelaide and Darwin.

In terms of time zone, the next to start their walk, ahead of the Philippines, is Japan and South Korea whose INC delegates will walk at 6 a.m. Philippine time (which is 7 a.m. in Philippine Standard time).

At 7 a.m., the participants in the Philippines converging in Metro Manila and in 84 other sites all over the country would start their walk.  The charity walk for Yolanda survivors will start also at 7 a.m. in various selected sites in 54 provinces (in alphabetical order).  These are in Abra, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Albay, Aklan, Antique, Aurora, Bataan, Benguet, Bohol, Bukidnon, Cagayan, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Capiz, Catanduanes, Cebu, Cotabato, Davao, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Iloilo, Isabela, Kalinga, La Union, Lanao, Leyte, Maguindanao, Marinduque, Masbate, Mindoro Occidental, Mindoro Oriental, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Mountain Province, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Palawan, Pangasinan, Quezon, Quirino, Romblon, Samar, Sorsogon, Sultan Kudarat, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Tarlac, Zambales, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, and Zamboanga Sibugay.

In Metro Manila, the starting point is at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP Complex) along Roxas Boulevard.

The INC organizers, in cooperation with its socio-civic arm, the Felix Y. Manalo Foundation Inc., have already coordinated with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Metro Manila Development Authority about the event tomorrow.  The PNP has already made traffic rerouting plans in Manila, in view of the massive charity walk, said Bro. Edwil Zabala, spokesperson for the INC Worldwide Walk for Yolanda survivors.

“We seek the public’s understanding this early for any inconvenience that the activity might cause,” Zabala said.

He stressed that the INC activity hoped to bring to the world’s attention the continuing sad plight of some four million people still struggling to recover from the devastation brought about by typhoon Yolanda in Central Philippines.

“The amount that will be raised through this activity (walk for a cause) will be allocated by the Church as additional assistance to our countrymen, especially our brethren, who were devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda,” Zabala said citing the INC circular.

He, however, stressed that the payment of registration fee to be able to participate in the event is only for INC members.

The walk for Yolanda survivors in the Philippines will also be held simultaneous with the walkathon in Hong Kong and in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

United Arab Emirates will conduct their walkathon for Yolanda survivors at 11 a.m. Philippine time, while Spain, Italy and France will start their walk for Yolanda at 2 p.m. Philippine Standard time.

The INC walk for Yolanda survivors will start in London at 7 a.m. their time or 3 p.m. Philippine Standard Time.

INC delegates from various parts of USA and Canada will start their charity walk also at 7 a.m. in their respective time zones.  In Philippine time, the “walk for a cause” in Hawaii will be the last of the 140 sites to start the activity since Hawaii.  The Hawaii site will start their walk at 1:00 a.m. Philippine Standard time.

Organizers are hoping to set two new world records with the February 15 “INC Worldwide Walk for those affected by Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan”:  the largest charity walk done in one site; and the biggest number of participants in a worldwide walk (multiple sites).

So far, the Guinness world record holder for the largest charity walk is Singapore’s The New Paper Big Walk 2000 which had 77,500 participants and started from the Singapore National Stadium on May 21, 2000.  It was organized by the Singapore Press Holdings, the Singapore Amateur Athletic Association and the Singapore Sports Council.

Organizers hoped the Manila site of the Worldwide Walk for Yolanda survivors would break this existing record.

So far, registrants of the Worldwide Walk came from 28 countries and territories, including the Philippines.   These countries include the USA, Canada,  Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Russia, Czech Republic, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Singapore, Malaysia and Micronesia territories.

The Worldwide Walk for Yolanda Victims is the biggest and grandest activity of the INC in reaching out to victims of calamity.  Metro Manila would just be one of the key points for the INC walk for a cause this February 15.

The activity is just one of the events being undertaken by the INC as it prepares  for its Centennial on July 27.  (Eagle News Service)