Immediately at 7 a.m. on Sept. 8, a Sunday, you hear the music from the speakers as you walk across the park before even seeing the throngs of purple-shirted people gathered under the vast dome-like architectural canopy of the public space.

The very center of this wide area is cordoned off in a square of open space, and around it, crowds line up in rows, thousands strong, some singing along to the background music, waiting to set off on a community walk around the park in a campaign against disinformation and cyberbullying, while also collectively celebrating their beloved Korean boy group.

They call it “Purple Walk of Love,” organized in less than a month between K-Pop boy band BTS’ fan bases—called “Army”—from all over the country. The Metro Manila leg of the nationwide event, in which over 30 Army fan bases from the capital region took part, was held at the Ayala Triangle Gardens in Makati City.

The most noticeably interesting thing about BTS’ influence is their fan base’s sheer organization and dedication in mobilizations. Since Taal Volcano’s eruption and the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, K-Pop fan bases, especially Army’s, had built a reputation for facilitating donation drives, establishing support systems, and enabling other collective movements. A single BTS stan could easily pull fellow stans toward a goal and coordinate across multiple Army fan bases toward the accomplishment of a goal.

Army was true to its name: The Makati walk participants numbered over 3,000, distinguishable by their fandom light purple shirts. Separate Army community walks were also held in other parts of the country, such as Baguio, Nueva Ecija, Cebu, and Iligan, with more to be held in Bataan, Olongapo, and Zambales next Sunday. Overseas, Filo-Armys based in Hong Kong also held their own community walk that same day.

Some participants arrived at Ayala Triangle earlier than the call time of 6 a.m., “even before the organizers could set up for the 6:30 a.m. registrations,” according to Bonnie Chan and KC Avenido, admins of Only Bangtan PH, which was the first to suggest the idea of a community walk to the Filo-Army fan groups.

“Other countries had previously done community walks for the BTS anniversary,” they tell CoverStory in a mix of English and Filipino. “We just adapted it to be done here [in the Philippines].”

“All the fan bases [in the nation] that were interested in participating were mobilized,” Chan explains, “and it took two weeks to prepare everything, look for a venue, lock down the dates, and think of the children [who will participate]… There are so many children, attendees in general, and volunteers. This is a very inclusive event.”  Some participants even brought their little pooches.

‘You never walk alone’

The program begins with a roll call of the present fan bases, followed by a quick warm-up to an upbeat BTS song and then a fan chant of the members, consisting of leader RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook.

The crowd then arranges itself into roughly four lines. Those on the leftmost row hold purple ribbons tied together into a kind of cordon, as they skirt the edge of the Ayala Triangle alongside joggers and bikers. 

“The purple ribbon is very significant,” Chan says, recalling the inception of the practice by US Armys at an airport, cordoning off fans and bystanders to give arriving BTS members space to walk through.

The participants walk on Ayala Avenue, to Roxas Street, to Makati Avenue, and to Ayala Avenue again, streaming back into the Ayala Triangle canopy for a short closing program. They stand in line at the tables to claim their fan kits for the event, the program ending officially with a final fan chant.

Many of the banners and shirt prints carry the message “You never walk alone,” the title of the band’s album repackage of their second studio album “Wings.” The Filipino catchphrase for the event, “Sa dulo ng walang hanggan,” is also found in many of the hand banners. All sorts of trinkets, cardboard cutouts, and BTS merch are sported, featuring the names and images of BTS members, lyrics from songs; some even wear purple wigs. 

“We could have done it per fan base, but we wanted to do it on a big scale,” Chan says. “We wanted to show unity and solidarity … It’s a representation of what we wanted to do for Yoongi [Suga].”

DUI issue

One of the primary catalysts for the community walk was the controversial report early last month of BTS member Suga driving his electric scooter while intoxicated. This led to a fine and the suspension of his license, followed by an investigation of the incident.

There is much debate and still unanswered questions about the ongoing drunk-driving controversy and the severity of the issue, which the BTS rapper has admitted in public and twice apologized for. Critics have asserted that the public narrative presented by Suga and BTS’ record label Hybe of the incident were misleading, following reports that his blood alcohol content (BAC) was actually detected at a whopping 0.227%—significantly higher than his initially reported BAC of 0.08% and discounting his claim that he had only one glass of beer.

On the other hand, some fans have argued that the online reactions have also led to baseless attacks, cyberbullying, and proliferation of disinformation against the rapper, after supposed CCTV footage of the incident was revealed to be fake. This then caused the inception of the community walk campaign, to push back broadly against “cyberbullying, disinformation, character assassination, and defamation.”

Mavie Rufino, a 50-year-old Army who traveled all the way from Bacoor, Cavite, with her son for the event, believes it to be the main purpose of the walk. “We gathered here because of the harassment against Suga,” she says.

Joan De Venecia-Fabul, admin and co-founder of Borahae from Manila, which is the majority cluster among the Metro Manila participants, echoes that sentiment, saying that Suga was “a victim of fake news in Korea, and we want to fight that.”

“It is really shattering to one’s peace and mental health when one is subjected to unjust criticism,” she adds. 

This has led to their initiative to partner with Kaibigan Chatline, a Unicef program that allows those experiencing poor mental health to call and talk to someone for free. BTS has been Unicef ambassadors since 2017, and the Walk of Love is a way “for us to continue what they started,” says De Venecia-Fabul. “Fifty% of [our fan kits] went to the donation to the Kaibigan Chatline, so we are not just walking for BTS; we are inspired by BTS to give back to the community through the Kaibigan channel.”

When asked about detractors and their response to pushback against the community, De Venecia-Fabul says they would “fight it with kindness, fight it with love.”

“As Michelle Obama said, ‘When they go low, we go high.’ I think that’s also the same for BTS Army because we’re not doing anything wrong,” she says. “We are here, bonded by love for BTS, which is not a crime.”

‘Fan-girling with meaning’

Controversy aside, there is something to be said about the fandom’s utmost devotion to the point of wanting to do good, perhaps to avoid ruining the virtue and reputation of their idols, influence more people to become part of a common interest, and maybe be noticed by their idols, too. Although some might not agree with the motives, these motives are capable of kick-starting large community campaigns on important causes.

“This is fan-girling/fan-boying with meaning, with a purpose,” De Venecia-Fabul says. “We’re not just screaming as fan girls, ‘They’re so handsome!’ At the end of the day, we have advocacies and communities that we are taking care of.”

One can make a case of today’s cult of celebrity and toxic fanaticism, but these inspired community and advocacy mobilizations centered on BTS make one wonder what could explain this phenomenon. Why do certain musical personalities reach extraordinary international stardom and gain tremendous loyal following, and others don’t?

Generally, there is no single explanation for BTS’ extreme popularity. Many attribute it to a combination of factors, such as the members’ good chemistry, artistry, and authenticity as artists and individuals. You can also say that for a lot of other artists, yet BTS shot through that glass ceiling on a scale quite unprecedented for a non-Western musical act. They debuted in 2013 initially as a hip-hop group, and although they have become famous for their pop songs, they have been known to write their own songs, with themes of love, self-love, time, mental health, and the effects of fame and power. To their credit, much of their lyricism, especially in their Korean songs, presents an honest, complex, and in-depth look into some of those themes that comes through even in translation—characteristics not often heard in most dance/heavy pop songs.

The difference in language could also have an (accidental) effect that could explain the phenomenon. There is a certain sensation in engaging with an art form in a foreign language. Even when you read a translation in a language that you can understand it in, you get the sense that there is still something out of reach, a specific mental experience only accessible if you understand the original language in all its cultural contexts. There is that feeling of not reaching its center, of only skirting the edges of comprehension. On the other hand, this center is also a space for possibilities which, because it can never effectively access or copy the original, can make meaning beyond itself—an artistry that becomes even more personal, inspired by and still close to that center, made aware of the gap between.

The very center is an open space, and an army moves around this center with their purple ribbons, propelled by the momentum of communities built around their admiration of and protectiveness toward their idols. You get the idea that it is that open space where shared imagination, possibilities, and devotion begin.

This is the fascinating phenomenon around BTS: When they said “idol group,” they really meant it.