by Teofilo Garcia, Jr./PNA
This city will once again participate in the worldwide observance of Earth Hour 2019 on Saturday, March 30.
The participation is in compliance with the directive of Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año, calling on all towns and cities to continue the awareness campaign to address diverse environmental issues, particularly the efficient energy use.
Año, in his memorandum dated March 4, cited the invitation of the World Wide Fund for Nature-Philippines (WWF-Philippines) for the local government units (LGUs) to participate in the upcoming Earth Hour 2019.
In this city, the activity will be held at the historial Plaza Rizal with arrival and registration to start at 6 p.m.
The program will kick off at 8:30 p.m. to be followed by the Earth Hour night bicycle riders take-off city tour, to be led by Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar.
In support of the movement, the DILG enjoined the local government officials and employees to switch off non-essential lights – including streetlights, signages, in key monuments and nearby public areas during the global lights out event from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on March 30.
The LGUs are also encouraged to mobilize the private sector within its jurisdiction to support Earth Hour, by switching off their signage lights or some of the lights in their facilities, as their operations and business will allow and pledge to go “beyond the hour” and help by publicly promoting renewed practices of initiating change, which can include environmental projects that the offices and individuals are willing to undertake.
Earth Hour 2019, with its campaign ‘#Connect2Earth’, aims to build mass awareness on why nature is important and create an unstoppable movement for nature similar to when the world came together to tackle climate change.
The Earth Hour, which started as a symbolic lights out event in Sydney in 2007, is now the world’s largest grassroots movement for the environment, inspiring millions of people to take action for our planet and nature.
Since then, it has grown to engage more than 180 countries and territories worldwide.
