1.2M join INC ‘walk vs. poverty’

WORLDWIDE WALK TO FIGHT POVERTY. Thousands of members of the Iglesia ni Cristo join the ‘Worldwide Walk to Fight Poverty’ from Buendia to Roxas Boulevard in Manila on Sunday (May 6, 2018). Proceeds of the event will be used to continue providing food and medical assistance for those in immediate need in impoverished communities. (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)

MANILA — Participants in the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) Worldwide Walk 2018 swelled to more or less 1.2 million Sunday morning, police estimates said.

The event, which was generally peaceful, started with a crowd of more or less 35,000 at 6 a.m. at the Quirino Grandstand and 300,000 in Roxas Boulevard.

By 7 a.m. the crowds swelled to more or less 800,000 individuals, the Philippine National Police National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said.

Aside from police units, crowd management was assisted by 1,500 INC volunteers from the Society of Communicators and Networkers International (SCAN).

Members formed the longest human sentence which read “Proud to be a member of the Iglesia ni Cristo.”

Present during the event were friends of the INC including Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos, Special Assistant to the President Bong Go, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin M. Andanar and Senator JV Ejercito.