Manila: Some 6,000 volunteers formed the image of an anchor at a school campus in Antique Central Philippines in a bid to set the world record.
According to officials the University of Antique (UA), about 1,500 students, faculty, staff and other volunteers — all totalling 6,000 — took part in the endeavour last January 19 to form a human anchor image with the biggest number of participants.
According to the participants, besides setting a world record, the formation of the largest human anchor was a symbolic gesture to honour Filipino seafarers and all the men and women in the Philippine maritime industry.
Guinness World Records has yet to issue an official certificate that will confirm the Philippines beat the earlier record of 230 people forming the shape of an anchor in its books.
Apart from trying to set the Guinness World Record for the biggest human anchor, which was formed on the UA school grounds in the municipality of Sibalom, in Antique province; the attempt was carried out to mark several significant milestones and symbolisms for the institution and the Philippine seafaring sector in general.
The human anchor was formed also to celebrate UA’s 62nd foundation day.
According to Dr Jelyn O. Alentajan, Dean of the university’s College of Teacher Education, the educational institution has always been “anchored” on ensuring the excellence of students that they produce.
To reach the required number of volunteers, UA partnered with the a party list organisation.
“Over the years, our seafarers working on board international fleets have increased in numbers, with 25 per cent of this valuable human component of shipping being Filipinos,” partylist Representative Jesulito Manalo of Angkla (Anchor) said.
“Presently, Filipinos are regarded the world’s premier seafarer of choice. Thus, they are among the major contributors to our nation’s socioeconomic progress, as their annual billions of dollars in remittances continually grow,” Manalo added.
“They equally provide our country a sense of pride since our maritime professionals play pivotal roles in shipping, which still remains an indispensable mode of connecting the world.”
