INC walk seen to break 3 world records

MANILA, Philippines — Over 1.5 million members of Iglesia ni Cristo gathered in Manila yesterday in yet another walk that the INC believes broke world records.

The INC hopes that the “Worldwide Walk to Fight Poverty” has set at least three new Guinness Records, breaking two previous ones set in a similar event held by the church in 2014.

Wearing white t-shirts, participants gathered as early as 12 a.m. and started to walk at 6 a.m. along the 1.6-kilometer stretch of Roxas Boulevard from the Cultural Center of the Philippines in Pasay City to Rizal Park in Manila. Both lanes of the boulevard were closed to traffic for the event.

Erwin Briones of the INC public information office explained to reporters that the official figure will be determined by the wrist bands worn by participants that were put in dropboxes at the finish line.

Organizers have not made an announcement on the official figure, but the Manila Police District estimated the participants at 1.5 million people along Roxas Boulevard and a crowd of about 50,000 at Quirino Grandstand.

The walk was also held by INC members simultaneously in 300 sites across 18 time zones.

While no official announcement was made as of press time, the event was expected to break the two records set by the INC in 2014 during the church’s first worldwide charity walk.

The 2014 charity walk held in 129 sites across 16 countries in 24 hours had 519,221 participants. It set the two Guinness Records for the largest charity walk in both single- and multiple-venue categories.

The 2014 charity walk was held to raise funds for victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda.

Yesterday’s charity walk was for the benefit of the less fortunate in selected communities, especially in Africa where poverty is the principal cause of hunger.

“Poverty is the principal cause of hunger in Africa and elsewhere. The Church recently established an eco-farming project in Ladybrand, South Africa aimed at helping address the pressing concerns of hunger and malnutrition in that area,” the INC said in a statement.

“Proceeds of the second Worldwide Walk will be used to continue providing food and medical assistance for those in immediate need in impoverished communities,” the church added.

Organizers already confirmed that yesterday’s charity walk has broken the world record for the largest human sentence.

A total of 23,235 members lined up to form the sentence “Proud to be a member of Iglesia ni Cristo,” beating previous record-holder India, which had 16,550 participants that formed the sentence “You can you will” in 2016.

Organizers also aimed to set new records in the categories largest picture mosaic formed by people and the most nationalities in a charity walk.

Among those who joined the event were Special Assistant to the President Christopher Go, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar and Sen. JV Ejercito. – With Rey Galupo