NEWS & EVENTS
Earth Hour Orientation held
Date posted: 04.06.2010
Chosen as the venue of the Earth Hour Orientation, St. Paul University Philippines opened its doors to more or less 500 participants on March 22,2010, at its jampacked, airconditioned Mother Madeleine Hall.
Sr. Remy thanked the Philippine Information Agency—led by its Regional Director, Ms. Purita Licas¬¬—for choosing the University for the Earth Hour orientation in Cagayan Valley.
In her opening remarks, Sr. Remy challenged the participants to move for the protection of nature.
Pointing out the destruction of nature done by the earlier generations, Sr Remy posed: “Shall we suffer more and do the same?”
About the worldwide initiative
Part of the national Earth Hour Roadshow, the orientation was given by Mr. Greg Yan of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), which promotes the worldwide initiative in cooperation with the Department of Energy, the Green Army Foundation and the Switch Movement.
“Earth Hour is a symbolic act to inspire humanity to mitigate and adapt to climate change,” Yan said.
Yan disclosed that this year the promoters target one billion participants and that the Philippines aims to maintain its No. 1 spot in 2009 as the country with the most Earth Hour observers. He said Earth hour 2010 in the Philippines expects at least 15 million participants throughout the nation.
Meanwhile, Mr. Reynaldo Regador of the Department of Energy talked on Mobilizing Communities into Action. He persuaded the participants to: “Do more than cure…practice. Do more than dream…work.”
Participants
In attendance were representatives from government and non-government organizations, which included the Provincial Planning and Development Office, the City Government of Tuguegarao,Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Girl Scout of the Philippines, Boy Scout of the Philippines, National Economic and Development Authority, Department of Health, Department of Tourism and several business establishments in Cagayan. Academic institutions—like the AMA Computer College, Cagayan National High School, Tuguegarao East Central School, and Methodist Catholic School—also participated in the affair. The administrators and faculty of SPUP likewise signified their support to the worldwide initiative, which will be observed at 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., on March 27, 2010.
Expression of Commitment
Mr. Mike Lim, City Administrator of Tuguegarao City, expressed the support of the City Government by promising to organize a countdown program on the said date, in cooperation with the Provincial Government of Cagayan.
Several participants from different institutions also expressed their commitment as they shared their respective institutions’ programs for Mother Earth.
After expressing the University’s support, Sr. Nicole de Marie Dabalus,SPC, SPUP Vice President, reminded the participants to remember Jesus by praying during the Earth Hour observation.