Skip to main content

Manila casino cancels New Year balloon stunt after criticism

A luxury Philippine hotel and casino has called off a world record attempt for releasing tens of thousands of balloons to mark the New Year following complaints from environmental groups and a government warning.

Okada Manila, a sprawling resort in the country’s capital that includes a hotel, casino and restaurants, had planned to ring in 2019 by dropping 130,000 balloons in one of its nightclubs to set a new world record.

But in a statement late Sunday, the Okada Manila resort said it had voluntarily cancelled the stunt as a “sign of respect” to environmentalists’ warnings, and “in support of the Government’s campaign to protect and save the environment”.

The country’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources had joined green groups in criticising the planned balloon drop, saying it would generate huge amounts of waste, but did not have the authority to stop it.

In a statement Monday, DENR chief Roy Cimatu described Okada Manila’s decision as “laudable”.

He said other hotels and resorts had also cancelled similar balloon drops for New Year’s Eve.

Okada Manila had initially insisted the balloons were biodegradable and would be recycled after the event.

In recent years, setting Guinness World Records has become a popular activity in the Philippines, with feats achieved including “largest charity walk” and “most hamburgers eaten in one minute”.

The post Manila casino cancels New Year balloon stunt after criticism appeared first on ARYNEWS.



from ARYNEWS http://bit.ly/2Qi9gxO
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trump says he urged team to ‘slow’ COVID-19 testing

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he was encouraging health officials in his administration to slow down coronavirus testing, arguing that increased tests lead to more cases being discovered. The president has claimed falsely on several occasions that surges of COVID-19 in several states can be explained by greater numbers of diagnostic tests. At his first rally since the outbreak forced nationwide shutdowns in March, Trump told the crowd in Tulsa, Oklahoma that testing was a “double-edged sword.” The United States — which has more deaths and cases than any other country — has carried out more than 25 million coronavirus tests, placing it outside the top 20 countries in the world, per capita. “Here is the bad part: When you do testing to that extent, you are going to find more people, you will find more cases,” Trump argued. “So I said to my people ‘slow the testing down.’ They test and they test.” It was not clear from Trump’s tone if he was playing to the crowd, who ...
Post a Comment
Read more

IT ministry forms panel to review social media rules

ISLAMABAD: While uproar against the new rules to regulate social media continues from various segments of society, including parliamentarians, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and civil society, the information technology ministry on Friday formed a committee to review the rules. The federal cabinet approved the rules on Feb 11, but later after opposition from various quarters, including companies that manage different social media platforms, the prime minister announced that a fresh consultation process would be launched over the Citizens Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules 2020. The committee formed by the IT ministry is headed by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Chairman Amir Azeem Bajwa while its members are Eazaz Aslam Dar, additional secretary of IT; Tania Aidrus, member of the Strategic Reforms Imple­mentation Unit, Prime Minister Office; and Dr Arslan Khalid, focal person on digital media at the PM Office. Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Ma...
Post a Comment
Read more

IS confirms Baghdadi’s death, vows revenge

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.—AP BEIRUT: The Islamic State militant group confirmed the death of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a statement on Thursday and named his replacement as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi. “We mourn you ... commander of the faithful,” said Abu Hamza al-Quraishi — presented as the group’s new spokesman — in an audio statement. Baghdadi, who led IS since 2014 and was the world’s most wanted man, was killed in a US special forces raid in Syria’s province of Idlib on Sunday. The group also confirmed the killing in another raid the following day of the group’s previous spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir. The statement said the group’s legislative and consultative body convened after the 48-year-old Iraqi-born jihadist chief’s death. “The Islamic State shura council convened immediately after confirming the martyrdom of Sheikh Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and the elders of the holy warriors agreed” on a replacement, said the seven-minute message. Little is known abou...
Post a Comment
Read more