Gov't asks public to join in Earth Hour

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The government urged the public, including all state agencies, to participate in this year's Earth Hour today to raise awareness on climate change and environmental protection.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said that Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. issued a memorandum dated March 21, enjoining all departments and agencies of the national government to participate in this year's Earth Hour.

The memorandum also covers government owned and controlled corporations, state universities and colleges and also local government units, Valte added.

"We are all encouraged to switch off or dim our non-essential lights for one hour, from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. tonight. We go on further by asking everybody to also participate in this activity," Valte said.

Earth Hour is the single, largest, symbolic mass participation event in the world hoping to mobilize people to take action on climate change. The event now inspires a global community of millions of people in 7,001 cities and towns across 152 countries and territories to switch off lights for an hour as a massive show of concern for the environment.