The country was literally engulfed in darkness from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday to send a signal around the globe that the Philippines is in harmony to save Mother Earth from the effects of climate change. Last year, the Philippines also placed first in terms of town and city participation in the world, with over 10 million Filipinos participating in the activity in 647 towns and cities nationwide.
Event organizer Earth Hour Philippines, composed of the World Wide for Nature-Philippines, Department of Energy, Switch Movement, and Green Army Network, exceeded its goal of 1,000 towns and cities for the Earth Hour 2010.
The country also initiated the Earth Hour FlashMob Dance, with over a hundred individuals who danced under the heat and occasional light rains.
When the first dancer started waving an Earth Hour flag, people stopped to take notice, international conservation group World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) noted in its website.
WWF said the dances culminated in a gigantic number 60 formation to signal the 60 minutes of the Earth Hour.
A record 125 countries and territories, which is up from 88 countries in 2009, and over 4,000 cities, towns or 1,200 more than at the inaugural of Earth Hour 2009 joined the event last Saturday.
“When Earth Hour started in Sydney in 2007, never in our wildest dreams imagined it would catch on like this,” said Earth Hour founder and executive director Andy Riley said.
Australia led the Earth Hour in 2007, and in 2008, the event became a worldwide phenomenon. At exactly 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., other countries also switched off their lights.
In China, 34 Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Dalian took part in the global Earth Hour event. The main event took place in the Forbidden City.
In Japan, the Tokyo Towers and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial plunged into darkness at 8:30 p.m. while in Nepal, local committees and authorities organized a program there where students and locals came together for a candlelight vigil by the Bouddhanath Stupa.
In India, Earth Hour reached out to schools through at least 20 WWF state offices which are directly engaging with schools through which an estimated a 100 000 youth have been introduced to the global call for action.
Earth Hour 2010 Global Event Video