Last year when Falun Gong practitioners form Taiwan visited the Philippines to introduce Falun Dafa, they were warmly received by the Philippine people, who hoped they would return to introduce Falun Dafa and teach them the exercises. On the 7th of August 2004, about 22 practitioners in two groups from Taiwan traveled to Manila to introduce Falun Dafa. We visited people from different circles and gained extensive support from them. We also held a nine-day seminar to allow people to learn the teachings of Falun Gong.
1. Practicing the Falun Gong Exercises and Introducing Falun Dafa in a Park
At 5:00a.m., we went to Manila's Luneta Park to practice the exercises and introduce Falun Dafa. Many Chinese people do morning exercises in this park every day. Not knowing the Chinese language practitioners in the Philippines felt that it was difficult to show these people why Falun Gong is been wrongly persecuted in China and to also show them what Falun Gong really is. This time, the Taiwanese practitioners helped the Philippine practitioners make a placard with a message allowing Chinese people to know that they could freely take and read the materials.
There are three million Chinese in the Philippines, and many of them have been deceived by the Chinese dictator and former President Jiang Zemin and his group's propaganda levaing them with a negative impression of Falun Gong. Especially the senior Chinese, some of them do not dare to read or listen to anything about Falun Gong. Last year, several people of a Chinese origing tore our banners and kicked our display boards. This year, once again a person came to kick over our display boards and report us to the police. The Taiwanese practitioners were not bothered by his presence, as whoever came, we would tell them the truth. Every day, that malicious person reported us to the police, but the police were tired of him, and simply came to walk around and leave. One day, the chief of the police came by bicycle and said, "Do whatever you want to do." He also joined a large group of people to sing the song, "Falun Dafa is Great." Now the Philippine police support Falun Gong.
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| Introducing Falun Dafa at a practice site | ||
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| People come to learn to practice the exercises | ||
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| People come to learn the truth about Falun Gong and learn to practice the exercises | ||
There are several places where those who practise Falun Gong meet and teach people the fves sets of exercises in Manila. Philippine practitioners hold a group practice at a park on Sundays. During the holidays, a lot of people came out in the morning to do the exercises. Most of them were Philippine citizens, and many of them were glad to listen to the truth about Falun Gong, and even learned to practice the five sets of exercises on the spot. Taiwanese practitioners gave out balloons to children with the words, "Falun Dafa is Good," and "The World Needs 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance'" in both Chinese and English, which the children carred with them through the park. A Philippine man came along with his wife and their child to spend their holiday. Seeing us teaching the exercises free of charge, the whole family came to learn the exercises.
There is also a place to practise the exercises in a suburb of Manila. Some of the Philippine practitioners had some mistakes in their exercises so the Taiwanese practitioners went there to help correct their movements. After practicing the exercises, they studied the teachings of Falu Gong together and also presented the practitioners with a copy of Teacher's exercise instructional VCD, telling them about the importance of studying the teachings and hoped that they could hold a group study session on a regular basis. The Philippine practitioners happily accepted our suggestions.
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| Practicing the exercise and having a photo taken with practitioners at a practice site outside Manila | |
2. Introducing Falun Gong to People from Different Circles in the Philippines
We had to apply for a permit to hang banners in Luneta Park. Practitioners went to related department to apply, and at the same time introduced Falun Dafa and clarified the truth in the park. The related department could not grant us a permit immediately, citing various reasons. So we set up display boards, and in the end, practitioners made a large display board with the words "Falun Dafa is Good" in both Chinese and English. Some practitioners went directly to the tourist bureau and the Senate to talk to them about Falun Gong receiving positive feedback. Several people in the tourist bureau learned to practice the exercises on the spot. Officials in the Senate asked the practitioners to teach them to do the exercises every Friday.
Practitioners also visited some schools, and most of them knew nothing about Falun Gong, but through the practitioners' efforts they all came to a good undestanding. An official in the educational system warmly received the Taiwanese practitioners, and when he learned the truth about Falun Gong and Falun Gong's tremendous effect on healing illnesses and keeping fit, he was glad to pass the Falun Gong materials to principals of all schools. He also suggested that we seek help from the Physical Education Association to introduce Falun Dafa.
3. Holding a Nine-Day Seminar
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| On the third day of a nine-day seminar at the YMCA, a journalist from United Daily News came to conduct interviews and file a report that was published the next day | |
On the third day of a nine-day seminar at the YMCA, a journalist from the United Daily News came to conduct interviews and file a report that was published the next day
We went to Chinatown to introduce Falun Gong where someone informed us that they had read about it in the newspaper. That evening, when the nine-day video series began, some Chinese people came to inquire and learn the exercises. Some other news agencies saw the positive effect of our ads in the newspaper, and were willing to publish our ads. They left their telephone numbers and hoped that we could find them to publish ads in their newspapers.
During the days when Falun Gong practitioners were staying in the Philippines we all separated into different groups and did different things. Some practitioners wore formal suits to visit different departments; some practitioners went to Chinatown to hand out leaflets on the streets. Some held the nine-day seminar; some drafted a speech for a press conference, some translated it into English and the native language of the Philippines. Some contacted news agencies; some went to schools. The efforts received positive feedback: the Philippine Senate expressed hope that the practitioners would come to teach them to do the exercises. A school principal hoped that someone could go to the school to teach the exercises every Friday morning in September. The seeds of Falun Dafa and "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance" have sprouted in the Philippines, and we believe there will be blossoms and fruit in the near future.
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