BayaniRun2017: Unity in Diversity

Poverty, Environment and Education – among top advocacies

Makati City, October 22 – Six-hundred runners of different age, nationality, ethnicity, affiliations,
profession, background, and more run united in iVolunteer’s BayaniRun held at Globe Circuit Grounds. In
support of their unique advocacies, each had lived up to one goal of making every Filipino, everyone, a
hero.

The Runners

Teachers and students ran side by side with other professionals, health runners, and volunteers. They
come from all over the Metro and some even from the province to support their causes. Filipinos and
foreign nationals, as well as representatives of non-profit and corporate groups finished the 3K, 5K, and
10K marathons together.

Jayson Rivera and John Mark Gallardo, both 13, placed second and third in the 3K run. They were grade
six pupils at Kalikasan Elementary School, Palayan City and Bliss Elementary School, San Jose City, Nueva
Ecija. With their co-pupils and teachers, they joined the BayaniRun to support Edicute, Inc.

Edicute, Inc. is one of iVolunteer’s partners. They have conducted various outreach programs benefiting
Kalikasan and Bliss ES. Teacher Josephine Morales of Bliss ES says that being part of the run is a way to
‘give back’ to Edicute as well. In addition to their advocacy, teacher Josephine also said that the kids
enjoyed it very much. And that she herself has reaped a boon too, “at least nakapagbawas ng taba”, she
says jokingly.

Ryan Mendoza of Decathlon placed first in the 3K run.

5K first placer is Richell Joy Santos, a children’s advocate. She is after the welfare of children deprived of
education or suffering malnutrition because of poverty. BayaniRun has also been a proof of her growth
as an athlete as she was able to beat her personal best from 23 to 17.33 minutes.

Mark Vilman and Jacob Larson were second and third place, respectively, for the 5K run.

Foreign national, Matthew Wolf, was first place for the 10K category. He is ran for his company Devex
and says he is a supporter of education.

10 K second and third placers were ____ and Jirome De Castro.

The Advocacies

Among the top advocacies promoted during the run were Poverty Alleviation, Environment and
Education. Children and Youth, Health, Animals, Sports and Recreation, Hunger, Elderly, Disaster and
Preparedness, and Human Rights, and Volunteerism are other advocacies promoted in the run.

Poverty
More than 26 million Filipinos remain poor with almost half, or a little more than 12 million, living in
extreme poverty and lacking the means to feed themselves, according to official government statistics for
the first semester of 2015. (Source: inquirer.net)

Helping people in need, even in simple ways is Rizza Phua’s advocacy. I know that poverty is really a big
issue, hindi naman talaga natin kayang matulungan lahat ng tao. But for me, pa gang tulong pinagsama-
sama, nagiging malaki ang impact. Hindi naman kailangang maging mayaman para makatulong, all we
need is time and a heart to reach out to other people. Rizza had a great and fulfilling experience at
BayaniRun.

Education

Facilities backlog, insufficiency of teachers, classroom and other resources, especially in public shools
was a long standing problem in the Philippine education system. This is despite the fact that education
got the biggest budget allocation among all executive departments in the last 2017 General
Appropriations Act. (Source: Rappler.com). Demand continues to rise in the face of K to 12
implementation.

Filipinos have a deep regard for education, which they view as a primary avenue for upward social and
economic mobility. (Source: countrystudies.us/philippines). Parents invest largely in their children’s
education. Though it is a sad reality that not every Filipino family can afford it.

Mr. Shrwyn Cabalsa, 10K finisher, is and Education advocate. As a La Sallian educator, he says that part of
their mission is to nurture the mind of their students, to touch their hearts and to transform their lives.
“I believed that through education, we can change and help our society for a better progress and good
future of our country”, he added.

At BayaniRun, he saw people that are ‘bayani’ in their own little ways. “Bayani in a sense that we are
doing something that will bring changes in our society especially with the condition of the poor people.
Bayani in a sense that we are giving hope to them,” says Sir Shrwyn.

Environment

We have seen the rise of environmental awareness over the past years. It has taken a spot in in both the
local and international arena. Natural calamities causing death and destruction ought to wake
lawmakers, lobbyists and ordinary people, to be caretakers of nature. Initiatives are being taken to save
the planet. One of thse is the 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) policy. It is being implemented among the east
and south-east Asian nations. (Source: Manilla Bulleting news.mb.com.ph).

However, environmental advocates have found that these measures were less effective when faced with
the growing level of urban waste. Extraordinary consumption statistics because of rapid industrialization
is a challenge. Growth is accompanied by rise in the generation of solid waste and degradation of
natural resources. (Source: waste-management-world.com).

In light of these, many of the runners supported causes concerning the environment. “If we destroy the
creation, the creation will [destroy] us”, says Jerry, iVolunteer and 3K finisher. He thinks that
environmental issues are also social issues that need to be addressed.
RJ Daniel, 5K finisher, takes that environmental issues should be given the same weight as poverty. In
that not taking care of the environment will bring about more serious problems, seeing it as the source.
“I strongly believe that caring for the environment is everyone’s responsibility … make conscious efforts
of protecting Mother Nature”, says RJ. He was amazed to witness volunteerism at work and believes that
this might be one of the key movers in solving the different problems of today’s world.

The Partners

ATD Fourth World. ATD’s BayaniRun Team is composed of 36 runners. They help raise funds to fulfill their
goal of eradicating extreme poverty in the country.

ATD fourth world envisions a world without poverty. They had programs that cultivates learning and
creativity and also serves as recreation for their beneficiaries. They have regular tutorial sessions, set-up
street libraries and also conducts forums and workshops for the adults. Through these, they are
empowering people to fight poverty.

Citizen Disaster Response Center (CDRC). Helping people help themselves, CRDC and various groups,
operate nationwide to promote community-based disaster management.

Edicute, Inc. Around 60 runners ran for education for the indigenous people as they support Edicute, Inc.
Edicute runners produced three placers, Jayson and John Mark (from Nueva Ecija), an Jirome De Castro
from Team Wanna Tri, 10K third placer.

Edicute promotes the welfare of indigenous people by partnering with organizations to provide more
accessible and effective learning systems to the indigents. They conduct programs to address
malnutrition and improve the health and sanitation situations.

Karinderia ni Mang Urot

We do not promote the organization, we promote the action. He encourages the volunteers to be more
engaged and involved, not only in KMU but in any organization as he believes that they all work towards
the same goal. KMU has only one goal: to feed the hungry, regardless of status. The karinderia is fully
provided for by Benjie Abad. It is a unique organization in that it does not solicit for donations. God will
provide. Though they are accepted especially the help of the volunteers. They have regular feeding
programs every Friday to Sunday at Quezon City.

Project PEARLS
Project Pearls is also an advocate of poverty alleviation, especially among children. They do various
outreach programs the will help provide Peace, Education, Aspiration, Respect, Love and Smiles (PEARLS)
to children. They believe that investing in the children’s health and nutrition, education, social,
emotional and spiritual well-being to a way to achieve their goal.

2KK
“Super saya, nakakapagod” was a mixed feeling for Alvin Perez, 2KK. But overall he had a positive
experience as he said that this was an opportunity to meet and build partnerships with other
organizations as well. They also got to promote their organizations. Volunteers from 2KK recited the five
cup loves which has been the foundation of the thei teachings to the students: Mahalin ang Kapwa,
Magdasal palagi, Sundin ang magulang, Mag-aral ng mabuti, Mahalin ang bayan. They conduct story
telling projects every Saturday in Sampaloc and Payatas for children in need. They also had 53 scholars in
their Yaman ang Pag-aralin ang Kabataan (YAPAK) scholarship program. They are sending students to high
school and universities.

U Happy
U Happy events believes in the importance of sharing one’s time, talent and treasure. They are a
platform that helps reach out to marginalized children by partnering with individuals and organizations
to conduct creative and meaningful activities.

A Journey of Hope
A journey of hope is founded by Titser Fe, she has since then been working at the kabayani training
program and education under the bridge. She and the volunteers educate and instill values formation
among its students. With an aim that all children in this nation will have the opportunity to attain
excellent education.

The Storytelling Project

Mr. Ray Buffi and Ms. Grace Soriano entertained the participants with their version of “Ang Madyik Silya
ni Titoy”. The book is about a boy with his disability (the magic chair is actually a wheel chair) the how he
uses his imagination to stay positive and still enjoy life despite his disability. The Storytelling Project
wants to bring its own brand of happy learning to children. It aims to develop imagination and creative
among young minds by teaching them how to write stories, creating books and having reading clubs. Ms
Grace is the one teaching students to write their first stories.

Angkas Travelling Bookstore aims to promote the ingenuity of Filipino authors and publishers by bring
ing their works to closer to communities across the county.

BayaniRun is an advocacy run where the runners pledge for their chosen cause and organizations. All the
pledged amount goes to the partner organizations. If the runner does not choose to specify the cause of
organization, the pledged amount were to be divided among the organizations.

The One Behind it All

JB Tan, founder and executive director of iVolunteer thanked the runners for being a part of BayaniRun
and extended appreciation for everyone’s participation and supporting their causes despite having other
simultaneous runs. He also said the good news that they have raised 100K of funds that will go the the
beneficiaries.

iVounteer would like to thank its corporate partners and sponsors: