Log In | Register
Manila, Philippines -- Some 6,500 or so motor vehicles participated in what a Philippine political party-list group Batas (law) organized and dubbed as "May 8 History" for stretching the longest and largest caravan in the Philippines and the world.
The parade of political campaigners' vehicles, said to have broken a world record of 1,500-pack Harley Davidson motorcycle caravan, in Denver, Colorado, was held Tuesday just few days before the May 14 polls.
The caravan kicked off 4 am at Andres Bonifacio monument in Caloocan and passed the historic 23.8-kilometer-wide EDSA (Epifanio De los Santos Avenue), a popular venue for mass demonstrations and rallies, and ended in Roxas Boulevard en route to Quirino Grandstand in Luneta Park, to hear the party-list candidates' presentation of platform and program of action.
Organizers of the event said that it is targeting only around 5,000 vehicles to participate in this so-called march comprised of thousands of poor farmers, fisher folks, laborers and members of some minority groups.
The supporters said they "just wanted to voice their rights to be heard and proclaim their support for the group (Batas) whom they believe is the only genuine and sincere party-list candidate in the coming May polls."
Batas, which stand for Bagong Alyansang Tagapagtaguyod ng Adhikaing Sambayanan (New Alliance to Promote the Ideals of Citizens), on its website, located at http://bataspartylist.com , said it is fighting for equal rights for people's health, education and legal concerns, branding itself as "the party list that truly cares."
In response to erroneous reports from Philippine media that the caravan snarled the traffic flow in EDSA, one of the nominees of the party-list said on his website the caravan caused minimum vehicular traffic disruption as it was organized orderly with disciplined driving.
Batas Party-list officials enthused it is all set to make a record for holding the longest and largest caravan with the Guinness Book of Records.
Organizers said that vehicles must bear in its roof red cloth or any materials to be identified easily as participant to the event. This will also aid photographers or videographers who will take aerial shot of the caravan.
The Guinness requires quite a bit of documentation. Aside from videographers, the Guinness requires photographs taken and a lawyer to make sure that all registrations are certified correct and authentic.
Meanwhile, in the coming polls, it was estimated that there are up to 40 million registered voters. In the party-list race, at least two (2) percent of the total votes gained by a party-list group would mean one seat already.
