INC bags Guinness for walkathon

MANILA, Philippines - The Guinness World Record announced that the Iglesia ni Cristo is the new record holder of the biggest charity walk in a single venue, with 175,000 INC members pouring into Manila’s seaside avenue yesterday to join the Worldwide Walk aimed to raise funds for Typhoon Yolanda survivors.

Guinness adjudicator Kristy Bennet said INC beat Singapore’s The New Paper Big Walk 2000 that had 77,500 participants on May 21, 2000.

“INC, you are officially amazing,” Bennet said when she announced the result at the Quirino Grandstand last night.

The INC’s Worldwide Walk kicked off at the Cultural Center of the Philippines and ended at the footbridge along Roxas Boulevard near the United States embassy.

All those taking part bought special white t-shirts each costing P250 to wear during the march, with all the proceeds donated to help the typhoon victims.

“We would like to collect extra funds in order to continue helping the survivors of the super typhoon, of which the primary beneficiaries would be members of the church in the Visayas region, but that does not mean that they would be the only ones who would benefit from the funds generated… From the proceeds of the walk we would do the same even for the non-members,” said INC event spokesman Edwil Zabala.

The INC’s Worldwide Walk is also competing for the largest charity walk in a 24-hour continuous worldwide walk in multiple venues.

The current record holder is the one organized by the Green Communities in Canada that had 231,635 participants who walked for a minimum of one kilometer at 1,011 different locations in Canada on Oct. 2, 2007.

For the Worldwide Walk, the INC identified 140 sites including Metro Manila for the multiple sites category, of which 85 sites are in the Philippines and 55 sites are in other countries: 34 in the United States, six in Europe, 10 in Australia, and five in Asia.

Zabala said the 24-hour continuous walk started in New Zealand at 2 a.m. Philippine time yesterday and would end in Hawaii at 1 a.m. Philippine time today.

The Guinness is yet to announce the result for the largest charity walk in the multiple venues category.

About 800 policemen from the Manila Police District and the National Capital Region Police Office were deployed at the INC event. Based on MPD’s estimate, there were about 1.5 million people in the area, including the marshals.

Chief Senior Superintendent Gilbert Cruz, directorial staff of the MPD, said no untoward incident in connection with the event was monitored.

With the total closure of a stretch of Roxas Boulevard and several adjacent streets, the volume of traffic in Manila yesterday was lighter than expected. Classes in affected areas in Manila were suspended yesterday.

Chief Inspector Olivia Sagaysay, head of Manila’s traffic police, likened the flow of vehicles to that of a “regular day.”

She said although the traffic flow on Roxas Boulevard and other roads near the venue was affected, the participants cooperated with the police, making it easier for the authorities to handle the traffic situation. – With Aie Balagtas See, Eva Visperas