Cebuanos burn calories for charity

CEBU, Philippines - Over 600 fitness enthusiasts “burned” calories in yesterday’s Coca-Cola Halika! program at the City Hall grounds, a charity workout wherein participants engaged in fitness routines to burn calories in exchange for money. 

The participants yesterday burned 111,000 calories and earned P111,000 at P1 per calorie. The money would be donated to the Cebu City Task Force on Street Children. 

 Cindy Lim, Coca-Cola Corporate Reputation Manager, said the HAL campaign encourages Filipinos to lead fitter lives by following three values — regular physical activity, balanced nutrition and proper hydration.

The first value asserts that individuals need 1 and ½ hours of physical activity each day. These may be achieved through simple everyday chores that get one’s body moving, sweating and burning calories.

The second value states that Filipinos need to include a variety of food into their diet in order to meet their body’s nutritional requirements.

Finally, the third value promotes the daily intake of 11 to 16 glasses of fluids, depending on age, weight, gender, weather and level of physical activity.

“We may obtain hydration from various sources such as water, juice, iced tea, softdrink and even food like soups and stews,” Lim said.

She said the program is in line with the company’s commitment to help create healthier lifestyles among Filipinos. Coca-Cola is implementing the program together with the Department of Health, Department of Education, and the Department of Science and Technology-Food and Nutrition Research Institute.

Ann Marie Trasmonte, Coca-Cola Cebu Plant Human Resource manager said yesterday’s turnout is a positive indication of more participants in the coming years. Participating in yesterday’s activity, among others, were private and government employees, military personnel and students.

In 2004, Coca-Cola launched the You Lose! Charities Gain!, which was renamed Step Up! in 2006 after it spawned three pocket events. The year after, the Halika! TV show was created to widen the campaign’s reach beyond the on-ground workouts.

Starting last year, Halika! went nationwide with four workouts in Manila, Cebu, Baguio, and Davao led by experts from Fitness First. — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/JMO   (FREEMAN NEWS)