Soccer star helps protect environment

MANILA, Philippines –  Philippine Azkals mainstay Anton del Rosario, a noted environmentalist, is encouraging people to help protect the environment through Alter Space, a Facebook game developed by Cleanergy from AboitizPower.

“Our environment is not in a good state right now, especially with all the pollution around us. We can all feel its effect in our lives. People need to learn how to save energy, how to recycle, and to cut down on the things that aren’t unnecessary,” said Del Rosario.

Alter Space is the first Filipino-made Facebook game with an environmental advocacy.

According to AboitizPower, the country’s major producer of Cleanergy, its brand for cleaner and renewable energy, it aims to reach out and educate people on how they can lower their carbon footprint and help preserve the earth’s resources.

In Alter Space, players are tasked to take care of their own planet. Players progress by adding points to their Happiness, Current-cy, and Experience levels while keeping their carbon footprint level in check, otherwise their planet and their avatar will perish.

“I feel that people will like this game because it’s like building your own world, and people get attached to these kinds of games. In this game, you’re nurturing not just the person, but also their environment,” he said.

In the few years that he’s been home in the country, Del Rosario sees how things can be improved with the way we handle our resources.

“I think we are not aware of the resources that we waste. For example, we have your air-conditioning and electric fans running almost ‘round the clock. I can’t say the electric bills are low, but I think that’s because we just aren’t aware of the adjustments we need to make with our daily habits. Then there’s the use of plastics that just becomes litter in the streets and even bodies of water,” he says.

Del Rosario admits that there’s much to be done.

“If we could move towards a greener attitude by making people more aware, then that would have a significant impact on our planet. This game can help make people--not just Filipinos but the rest of the online community as well--live in a way that lessens our negative impact on the environment,” he concludes.

It may be an uphill battle, but as Del Rosario and the Azkals have shown, nothing is impossible if we would make a conscious effort to overcome the odds.

To know more about Alter Space, check out www.facebook.com/alterspacegame.

AboitizPower is the holding company for the Aboitiz Group’s investments in power generation, distribution, retail and power services. It is a major producer of renewable energy in the country with several hydroelectric and geothermal assets in its generation portfolio. The non-renewable portfolio consists of plants throughout the country. The distribution utilities it owns   and operates are located in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. (www.aboitizpower.com and www.cleanergy.com.ph).