POWER OUTAGE: EARTH HOUR COMES EARLY TO METRO MANILA
MANILA, MARCH 27, 2011 (STAR) By Donnabelle Gatdula and Rhodina Villanueva - [Photo - Buildings along Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City switch off non-essential lights at 8:30 p.m yesterday to mark the annual Earth Hour. ERNIE PEÑAREDONDO] Earth Hour for year 2011 came too early when most of Metro Manila and nearby provinces plunged into darkness in a three-hour power outage yesterday.
National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) spokesperson Mutya Alabanza said the power outage came after a line tripped at a power substation in Bulacan.
Alabanza said a manual load dropping (MLD) or rotating blackout was effected in most areas serviced by the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) that started at 2 p.m. yesterday due to the power supply problem.
"Blackout was caused by tripping at San Jose-San Manuel 500-kilovolt line, which affected a San Jose transformer," she said.
While they have yet to pinpoint the cause of the line problem, Alabanza said they were able to restore the power in affected areas later in the afternoon.
Meralco said areas that was affected by the three-hour blackout included Novaliches, Commonwealth and Diliman in Quezon City, as well as some areas in Malabon and parts of Bulacan province.
Even if some parts of Quezon City involuntarily went dark for the Earth Hour, the city government said they would still participate in the annual power switch off activity.
Greg Banacia of the Quezon City government's Public Information Office said all the lights within the QC Hall compound and the Quezon Memorial Circle would be turned off for an hour starting at 8:30 p.m. in joining the whole nation in observing Earth Hour.
Mayor Herbert Bautista urged private establishment owners in the city to support the lights out activity by switching off the
signage lights of their respective facilities as much astheir business operations will allow.
Even barangay officials and city residents have a role to play by conducting simple activities to mark the one-hour environmental campaign.
[In this composite image of photos, lights are out and switched on the Sydney Harbor Bridge (bottom left) and the Sydney Opera House (top photo) as well as at Luna Park (top and bottom right photos) in participation of Earth Hour in Sydney yesterday. At 8:30 p.m. lights are switched off around the globe for Earth Hour.AP]
Quezon City started supporting the global initiative in 2009, with the participation of various shopping malls and other business establishments joining the campaign with an estimated 70 percent of their lights being turned off.
The Philippines topped global Earth Hour participation levels for both 2009 and 2010. Ten million Filipinos in 647 towns, cities and municipalities switched off in 2009, while 15 million Filipinos in 1,076 towns and cities joined the 2010 switch-off.
Over a billion people from 128 countries participated in Earth Hour 2010 – marking it as the largest environmental event in known human history.
On the other hand, the environmental group Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) said the essence of Earth Hour should go beyond the 60-minute switch off.
"Earth Hour is a simple act that emphasizes both the ease and importance of adopting energy-efficient practices and lifestyles. Given ever-increasing energy demands, we must be
mindful of the need to control human-induced global warming by adopting smarter and more responsible energy practices," said Earth Hour national director Gia Ibay.
"Though it would be wonderful to again be number one in terms of participation, we must emphasize that Earth Hour is but 60
minutes long. If we want something that will really help address the problem of the environment, then we must do something concrete. We want Filipinos to pledge to a year-long commitment to reduce their energy usage," she said.
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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