Thousands of youths release sky lanterns—15,185 of them—within 10 minutes at the University of the Philippines Visayas campus in Miag-ao in Iloilo City on May 24, 2013, to call for world peace through inner peace. On Monday, April 14, 2014, tens of thousands of people are expected to meditate and simultaneously light candles for world peace in Oton town in Iloilo province. GUIJO DUENAS/INQUIRER VISAYAS
ILOILO CITY, Philippines—Tens of thousands of people are expected to meditate and simultaneously light candles for world peace in the Light of Peace in the Philippines gathering in Oton town in Iloilo province early evening on Monday.
The event, with the slogan “World peace through inner peace,”also hopes to set a new Guinness World Record similar to the one set for sky lanterns in Miag-ao town, Iloilo, last year.
Organizers of the event are targeting 100,000 participants to light candles at an open field at Savannah City, a 300-hectare residential community owned by Camella Homes, in Oton.
The event is organized by Bangkok-based The Middle Way Meditation Institute (MMI), Villar SIPAG (Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance), Archdiocese of Jaro, the city and provincial governments of Iloilo, the Commission on Higher Education and the Department of Education.
The MMI said in a statement that the event hoped to gather the participants to “meditate together for individual inner peace to bring about true world peace as our global community is increasingly suffering from a number of negative factors, ranging from economic and financial uncertainties, nuclear weapons, terrorism, food and water shortages to natural disasters.”
Participants will light the candles placed inside bamboo sticks and form the logo and motto of the Light of Peace event and the Philippine map. They are expected to start arriving at the venue at noon.
During the event, a memorial service will also be held for victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda, the strongest typhoon to hit land that ravaged many areas mostly in the Visayas, according to the MMI statement.
Participants from all over the Philippines and other countries are expected to join the event, which will also be attended by Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. and Iloilo officials.
On May 24 last year, MMI also organized the Inaugural Light of Peace Event in the Philippines at the Miag-ao, Iloilo, campus of the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) and set a new Guinness World Record for the most number of sky lanterns flown simultaneously.
Participants in last year’s event flew 15,185 sky lanterns at the UPV football field and bested the previous record set on June 2012 by Romania at 12,740 to promote a shopping mall opening.