Sending 2012 off in the Philippines will always be marked by the usual year-end midnight celebrations, which also welcomes 2013 hopefully with hands still intact. Last 2012, which was a leap year, the Philippines witnessed feats and defeats; received visits from foreign celebrities; rocked by end-of-the-world prophecies; and shaken as well as affected by several earthquakes and the onslaught of a number of typhoons as well as that infamous southwest monsoon or habagat from Luzon to Mindanao.

The year 2012 also gave 366 days of opportunities to do good for one of the Philippines' longest running religious program, Ang Dating Daan. As 2012 went by, a year of charity works medical missions and blood donation drives as well as Bible Expositions and evangelization efforts through various media comprised the fruitful year of this radio and television show hosted by Bro. Eli Soriano and Kuya Daniel S. Razon.

As the new year steps in, let us see the 2012 highlights of the radio-television religious program alongside some significant happenings in the Philippines.

Public Service, Unity Run as New Year Opens
Traditionally celebrated with feasting and fireworks, the first day of the first month of 2012 was welcomed by the Philippines with more than 1,000 injuries monitored by the Department of Health.

Ang Dating Daan (The Old Path or TOP for its English-speaking constituents abroad) teamed up with local television channel, UNTV to give food and gifts to the less fortunate as well as to administer much needed first-aid assistance to injured people while roaming the streets of the Metropolitan Manila.

In the latter part of the month, the show supported the advocacy group, Kahit Isang Araw Lang's Unity Run. The simultaneous run was held to raise funds for the construction of a La Verdad Christian College branch in Caloocan City, which offers a free college education program. More than 209,000 runners took part in this benefit marathon staged at venues nationwide and abroad.

Life Saving Campaign
Last year, the promotions for the Earth Hour started as early as February though the actual event was on March 31. Likewise, TOP launched a massive campaign in February for its 2012 first quarter Mass Blood Donation Drive on March 18. Blood donation drives are held quarterly by the group in partnership with the Philippine National Red Cross.

Charity Concert in April
In April, big music names held their concerts in the Philippines. Pop duo LMFAO, the Cranberries, Greyson Chance and Sergio Mendes were some of the artists who performed in Manila.

The Cascades was also in the Philippines in April to perform live for a charity concert. The popular 60's band guested in Bro Eli Soriano's concert, “We Are Blessed,” which benefitted the broadcast intensification of The Old Path, which is now seeing its presence expand in the South American countries.

Education as Public Service Focus
A month before another school year starts in the Philippines, Members Church of God International (MCGI), or the group more popularly known for its program's name, Ang Dating Daan, teams up with UNTV and the Department of Education for the Brigada Eskwela project. Volunteers for this annual event clean school rooms and surrounding areas in preparation for the start of classes.

It was also in May 2012 when MCGI, UNTV and the Rotary Club of Kamuning granted a computer laboratory for Commonwealth Elementary School in Quezon City.

Winning Education
This month means back-to-school for students and it was also in June 2012 that People's Champ Manny Pacquiao lost his WBO Welterweight Championship title to Timothy Bradley.

Manny may have lost his chance to win the belt as trophy but for students at Apalit High School, holding classes at the new building donated by the MCGI group and UNTV is a sure win for their education.

SONA and the state of Truthcasting
July witnessed the third State of the Nation Address of President Benigno Aquino III. In the President's SONA, he reported progress in terms of new roads built, new classrooms added, and an improved PhilHealth program for the masses.

Visitors of the Bro. Eli-hosted religious program's home on the web also witnessed new features on the site. The redesigned website now includes Question and Answer videos from Bible Expositions, as well as Tweetanong mo Kay Soriano, which showcases Q and A with Bro. Eli derived from his Twitter account.

Rescue Missions in Times of Calamity
Flash floods brought on by monsoon rains or habagat severely crippled the National Capital Region and surrounding areas. The heavy raining which lasted for eight days left thousands of homes damaged and 95 people dead.

Ang Dating Daan and UNTV performed relief operations for the victims of flash floods. Relief goods were distributed in areas of Pasig, Marikina, CAMANAVA and Muntinlupa.

Quarterly Blood Donation Drive
Blood pressures of Philippine netizens went high in September when R.A. 10175 was approved. Better known as the Cybercrime Prevention Act, the law was heavily criticized for its libel clause, fueling online backlash from the public and the media who viewed the Act as a curtailment of the freedom of speech and freedom of expression.

During this month, the blood donation campaign of the group for the quarter, meanwhile, was successfully mounted. In partnership with UNTV and the Philippine Blood Center, the quarterly blood donation drive is recognized by the Philippine National Red Cross for consistently contributing an average of over a thousand bags of blood.

More Mobile-Based Outreaches
Two months after the Philippines saw Apple Co.'s launch of its sixth-generation smartphone, the iPhone 5, ADD has unveiled the first mobile Coordinating Center during the program's 32nd anniversary celebrations last November. Equipped with a satellite dish, flat screen television and seats, the mobile-based coordinating center was definitely designed for remote areas.

Aside from launching the mobile Coordinating Center, the program's anniversary was celebrated with a drama play for the opening number, a marathon Bible Exposition and inauguration of new places of gathering as well as new charity projects like the mobile-based learning center for short-term vocational courses called Manibela Academy.

End-of-the-world Prophecies Meets Challenger
The last few days of 2012 was peppered with end-of-the-world scares, North Korea's unannounced rocket launch and a devastating typhoon named Pablo.

For the typhoon victims, the year 2012 may be nearing its conclusion but it is not the end for their hopes. The MCGI group and UNTV provided relief goods and conducted a medical mission for the victims of the typhoon at Compostela Valley. The latest casualty count of Pablo is at 1,500. Damaged crops cannot be salvaged while homes were completely wiped out.

As for the end-of-the-world false prophecies, its adherents projected December 21 date of the Mayan calendar to spell the destruction of the earth has now passed. Alert to this kind of falsities, the ADD host Bro Eli Soriano has this to say on his Twitter account days before the December 21 date: "There will be no renewal! Nothing extraordinary is going to happen on such date. Trust in God and not in lying humans! Jer.17:5"

Photos courtesy of:
Photoville International/Fritz Ofilas for Cascades at We are Blessed concert
PVI/Mark Oliver Santillan for Habagat relief operations
PVI/Carmelo Calingasan for Manny Pacquiao