Thousands of residents joined the commemoration of the Earth Hour on March 30 in Barangay Bulalacao, Bataraza.
The celebration was organized by Coral Bay Nickel Corporation (CBNC) as part of the global campaign to increase awareness on the fight against climate change.
The celebration was highlighted by the lights off event from 8:30 to 9:30 evening.
The Earth Hour is held annually to encourage individuals and communities to turn off their lights for one hour as a symbol of support in fighting climate change and having the commitment for a better planet.
Before the lights off, CBNC also organized several activities like the mangrove planting in Barangay Tarusan, landscape enhancement in Barangay Bulalacao, Bike-for-the-Future (Bike for-a-cause), Zumba Dance Contest and live band performance to encourage more community participation.
Ernesto Llacuna, community relations manager of CBNC, said joining the annual Earth Hour event is their way of helping the planet by making more people understand the issue so that they can do their share in mitigating the effects of climate change.
“By doing this altogether, we will be sure that the Earth will still be a habitable place for more generations to come,” Llacuna said.
Laurence Amores, the community relations supervisor of CBNC, said the company started supporting the activity in 2013 and has been doing it since then.
In the past, the CBNC conducted it in Barangay Rio Tuba but this year, they had it in Bulalacao to also spread the awareness in other villages.
“More residents are already aware of this global issue of climate change. This time, we wanted that others may also be aware of this,” he pointed out.
Jose Rey Ortiz, the village chief, said they thanked the CBNC for holding the event in their barangay.
“Nagpapasalamat po kami sa CBNC na ginawa nila dito sa aming barangay ang pagdiriwang na ito. Ngayon mas marami na ang nakakaalam sa mga kabarangay ko ng problema na ito ng mundo natin,” he added.
Earth Hour is a worldwide movement organized by the World Wild Life Fund for Nature which started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia.
