By Ramon Dacawi
Running enthusiasts will give their physical fitness exercise a humanitarian dimension when they answer the starting gun simultaneously here in Baguio and in 17 other cities on Feb. 17 in the four-category inaugural “Philhealth Run 2012” being mounted by the government health insurance system.
Philhealth conceptualized the calorie-burning mass run to build up a fund for the country’s ailing children, to boost their chances of recovering from illnesses and of growing up like normal kids.
That’s why registration fees are pegged at P250 for the 3-kilometer fun run, P300 for the 5K, P350 for the 10K and P450 for the 18K that will fire off simultaneously in Baguio, Dagupan, Tuguegarao, Clark, Malolos, Manila, Laguna, Batangas, Legazpi, Iloilo, Tacloban, Cebu, Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Koronadal, Marawi and Butuan.
That’s why Philex Mines, one of the country’s major gold and copper producer based in Tuba, Benguet, came in as the first major sponsor of the Baguio-Cordillera leg with a P100,000 donation.
“We hope other companies and institutions would follow suit as the run draws near so, together, we can reach out to more children in need,”said Maggie del Rosario, public relations officer of Philhealth-Cordillera based at the SSS Building along Harrison Rd. here.
Local organizers are optimistic registration will hit the Cordillera target of 3,000 runners to help achieve the nation-wide mark of 90,500 participants.
Half of the nation-wide proceeds will go to the Philippine Children’s Medical Center in Quezon City as the national beneficiary of the run-for-a-cause. Half of what every city/regional leg raises will go to a beneficiary of the regional organizer’s choice.
Helping Hands of Healing Hearts Ministries based at Camp 7 here in Baguio has been selected as the local beneficiary. It is a refuge and recovery home for kids from all over who are undergoing therapy in various hospitals and medical centers in the Baguio-Benguet area.
Among those who stayed in the home established by Claire Henderson, an Irish missionary, was her namesake, Irish Gullitiw, then a 14-year old daughter of a marginal farmer from Nueva Vizcaya who recovered from “dermatomyositis with SLE (systemic lupus erythematosus) features” that had left her unable to walk for months.
Among the home’s present wards is 14-year old Ana Fontanilla, another farmer’s daughter from Rosario, La Union who recently received fund support totaling P38,200 to enable her to sustain her dialysis treatment for two months due to kidney failure. She and other wards of the small facility will be the beneficiaries of funds the Philhealth Run will raise through sponsorship and registration fees.
Runners’ registration, which began last Nov. 17, can be either on line (https://run2013.philhealth.gov.ph) or through the form being issued by the Philhealth regional office at the 4th floor of the SSS Building along Harrison Rd., Baguio City.
As incentives, top three finishers in both the male and female divisions will receive cash prizes of P3,000-P2,000-P1,000 in both the student and adult categories of the 3K, aside from a P10,000 group prize; P5,000-P3,000-P2,000 in the 5K; P8,000-P4,000-P3,000 in the 10K; and P10,000-P6,000-P4,000 in the 18K.
The “Nationwide Run for Mother and Child Protection” will mark Philhealth’s 18th anniversary. It recalls the spirit of “Children of Heaven”, the 1997 multi-awarded Iranian film about a boy trying to win third place in a long-distance race so he could replace his younger sister’s pink shoes he lost after fetching it from the cobbler. Third place had a pair of shoes as prize. Instead, Ali, the boy runner, ends up first in a bitter race to the finish line after he was tripped by a competitor.
Win or lose, participants, together with sponsors in the Feb. 17 run will up ailing children in their struggle for deliverance from all kinds of illnesses. .
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