All set for Earth Hour

Manila Bulletin
By LESLIE ANN G. AQUINO, PHOEBE JEN INDINO, MALOU M. MOZO, RIZAL OBANIL
March 26, 2009, 10:58pm

Church bells in Manila will be ringing during Earth Hour, which begins at 8:30 p.m. tomorrow when millions of households and establishments all over the world are expected to turn off their lights for one hour as a gesture of support in the fight against global warming.

In Cebu, all is set for Earth Hour with the Visayan Electric Company (Veco) joining local government officials and private sector groups in urging households and commercial establishments to turn off lights for at least one hour.

Cebu police will also be taking part in Earth Hour by taking measures to secure critical areas like malls, parks, churches, and banks when the lights go out.

The Archdiocese of Manila asked all its parishes to support Earth Hour by ringing church bells to signal communities to turn off their lights.

“We can also make Earth Hour more dramatic by ringing all parish church bells at the start and end of Earth Hour,” the Archdiocese of Manila Ministry on Ecology said in a statement posted on the archdiocese’s website.

Aside from the ringing of church bells, the Archdiocese also enumerated other ways in which parishes and communities can show its support for the event such as praying the rosary or organizing a Holy Hour.

“Pray the rosary and gather as a family or community for sharing or reflection,” read the statement.

“Parish or communities may also organize a Holy Hour reflecting on God’s creation or on the theme: What is happening to our Beautiful Land?”

Earlier, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales called on Filipinos to show their concern for the environment by joining Earth Hour.

“We are asking everyone not to use electricity for an hour on March 28 from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m.,” Rosales said in an interview over Church-run Radio Veritas 846.

The Cardinal also urged the public to use the said time to reflect on the sad state of the environment and the world.

“Please use the time to reflect on the alarming state of the world and how we can help protect it,” he said.

“Let us participate not only to conserve energy but to also preserve our nature. Let us try not to use electricity for an hour,” added Rosales.

In Cebu, the Aboitiz-led Veco urged Cebuanos to switch off the main lights in their households to help reduce carbon emissions.

Veco, along with the World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines, Department of Energy, the Green Army, Switch Movement and the Cebu City government, will lead a grand switch off campaign to urge Cebuanos to turn off their lights from 8:30-9:30 in the evening.

“Power saved today is power you can use tomorrow,” Veco said in a press statement.

Ethel Natera, Veco corporate communications manager, yesterday told Manila Bulletin that the company will not be able to estimate total savings on electricity usage within Veco’s franchise area on the date and time of the campaign since the switching off of lights is voluntary on the part of customers.

“We have been monitoring the (electricity) load last Saturday and will be monitoring the load again this Saturday so we can determine the difference between how much less power will be consumed this March 28,” she said in a phone interview.

Earth Hour Philippines 2009 hopes to involve 10 million Filipinos and 500 businesses in key cities nationwide. Globally, it aims to reach one billion people in 1,000 cities worldwide.

Other organizations representing civil society, business communities, religious sector, youth, national agencies and local governments have likewise pledged their support for the event.

“This campaign greatly involves everyone no matter where you are in this world. We ask our customers to take part in saving energy and thus, saving Mother Earth,” said Veco executive vice president and chief operating officer Jimmy Aboitiz, who is himself a strong advocate of energy conservation and movements against global warming.

Meanwhile, the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 has also ordered its sub-stations to secure their perimeter.

Senior Supt. Louie Oppus, PRO 7 Regional Operations and Plans Division chief, said that all police stations and offices in the region have already received the directive to secure critical areas during the Earth Hour celebration.

“Beat patrol cars are going to roam around during the one hour celebration, while there will be also police standby in vital areas,” he said.

Oppus also said that the each police station and office is going to participate during the event to show their support for the advocacy of saving the world from global warming.

“Critical areas like banks, malls and other establishments are advised to double their security efforts during the activity as criminal elements might take advantage of the situation,” he said.

The Earth Hour celebration originated in Sydney, Australia in 2007. It aims to encourage more cities around the world to take responsibility and play a part in ensuring a sustainable future by saving mother earth from global warming.

In a related development, the City of Malabon signified that it will also take part in the Earth Hour.

The Malabon City Waste Management Council (MWCMC) headed by Gloria Tamayo said Mayor Canuto "Tito" Oreta has ordered all department heads to tell subordinates to turn off the lights and other appliances in their respective homes from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Tamayo said that they have also been instructed to tell as many of their constituents to do the same on Saturday.

"We hope that they will do their part in the efforts of all stakeholders to conserve as much electricity as possible, so as to help the environment," Tamayo said.

Fuel consumption has always been regarded as one of the reasons for the rapid deterioration of the environment.

RP, 83 other countries to observe Earth Hour

Philippine Star


By Donnabelle Gatdula Updated March 28, 2009 12:00 AM

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MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines will join 83 other countries in observing the second worldwide Earth Hour.

Ten million Filipinos from Pagudpud to Tawi-Tawi are expected to turn off their lights between 8:30 to 9:30 tonight to highlight global climate change.

More than 2,800 municipalities in 84 countries all over the world plan to turn off lights to mark Earth Hour.

In the Philippines, over 100 cities and towns registered their commitment for Earth Hour, the World Wide Fund for Nature-Philippines(WWF) said.

The Philippines now ranks second among local government sign-ups worldwide.

The Department of Energy (DOE), along with the WWF-Philippines, the Green Army Philippines Network and the SWITCH movement will have a program at the SM Mall of Asia.

“The nationwide celebration is designed to be inclusive and richly textured,” explained Lory Tan, president and CEO of WWF-Philippines.

“We want people to internalize the issue of global warming and to express themselves in their own way – whether in their homes or public places.”

DENR regional secretary Antonio Principe said the country expects to save at least 560 megawatts of power during the one-hour lights off period, equivalent to cutting down roughly 330 tons on carbon dioxide emission.

Malacañang, Environment Secretary Lito Atienza and Sen. Manny Villar appealed to Filipinos to support Earth Hour.

During Earth Hour, the main street lights along the whole stretch of Roxas Boulevard straddling Pasay and Manila will be switched off. Main lights will also be turned off in other main thoroughfares, bridges and plazas.

National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Leopoldo Bataoil ordered the deployment of policemen to conduct patrol operations on the street to ensure public safety and order.

In Makati, an Earth Hour countdown will be held in Ayala Tower One. Lights will be switched off at Ayala Avenue, Paseo de Roxas, JP Rizal, Makati Avenue, Kalayaan, Reposo, and Metropolitan Avenue.

In Baguio, the celebration will begin in the morning with a Palit-Ilaw sa Palengke activity, in which incandescent bulbs at the public market will be switched to more efficient compact fluorescent lamps.

In Cebu City, all lights in City Hall, Plaza Sugbo, Fuente Osmeña and commercial-industrial centers will be switched off tonight.

“The Earth Hour event is a message of hope and action,” Cebu Archbishop Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal said. “We will send this message to our world leaders, so that we can look forward to a meaningful action on their part — an action that can spell a big difference for our world.”

Smart Communications will turn off lights on its billboards and building facilities located in various parts of the country in support at 8:30 tonight.

Earth Hour will be celebrated in Marikina, Iloilo and various cities of Mindanao. In Davao City, Digos City, Davao del Sur, the day-long celebration will consist of a tree-planting activity in the morning and a countdown event with a live band at the park in the evening to be spearheaded by the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK).

Elsewhere in the developing world and emerging markets, major cities like Beijing, New Delhi, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Jakarta, Istanbul, Seoul, and Mexico City are taking part in Earth Hour in a big way.

The lights are going down from the Great Pyramids to the Acropolis, the Eiffel Tower to the Sears Tower in Chicago.

McDonald’s will even soften the yellow glow from some Golden Arches as part of the time zone-by-time zone plan to dim nonessential lights between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. to highlight global climate change.

“Earth Hour makes a powerful statement that the world is going to solve this problem,” said Carter Roberts, chief executive of the World Wildlife Fund, which sponsors Earth Hour. “Everyone is realizing the enormous effect that climate change will have on them.”

Seven times more municipalities have signed on since last year’s Earth Hour, which drew participation from 400 cities after Sydney,

Australia held a solo event in 2007. Interest has spiked ahead of planned negotiations on a new global warming treaty in Copenhagen, Denmark, this December.

Nearly 200 US cities, towns and villages have signed on, from New York City - which will darken the iconic Empire State Building and Broadway marquees - to Igiugig, population 53 on Iliamna Lake in southwestern Alaska. - With Katherine Adraneda, Ric Sapnu, Ding Cervantes, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Rodrigo Pamonag, Paolo Romero, Non Alquitran