THE Philippines—declared a “Hero Country”—retained the top Earth Hour spot for the fourth successive year, contributing a full fourth of all territory participants to Earth Hour 2012.
In 2009 it became the top Earth Hour country, with 647 Philippine towns and cities joining in and 10 million Filipinos saving at least 611megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity— equivalent to temporary shutdown of a dozen coal-fired power plants.
Participating in 2010 were 1,076 Philippine towns and cities.
In 2011 a total of 1,661 Philippine cities and towns switched off their lights for Earth Hour.
“We are elated to clinch the top spot for the fourth year in a row,” Earth Hour National Director and lawyer Gia Ibay said in a statement. “More than the numbers, though, Earth Hour espouses the importance of our actions beyond the hour.”
For Earth Hour 2012, the central switch-off was held at Makati City’s Ayala Tower One and was led by Earth Hour Co-Founder Andy Ridley. The switch-off in the Visayas was held at Cebu City’s Plaza Independencia and in Mindanao, at SM City Davao.
Rough estimates peg the power saved to be at least 362MWh during this year’s 60-minute blackout: a drop of 214MWh was recorded for the Luzon grid, 91MWh for Mindanao and 57MWh for the Visayas. Public-sector partners included Climate Change Commission; Departments of Energy, Environment and Natural Resources, Public Works and Highways, Science and Technology, Agriculture, Foreign Affairs, National Defense, Transportation and Communications, Budget, Trade and Industry and Education; National Economic and Development Authority, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, League of Municipalities, League of Cities and League of Provinces of the Philippines and Philippine Information Agency.
Philippine Media Champions included TV5, ABS-CBN, GMA-7, CLTV-36, Discovery Channel, Knowledge Channel, ZOE TV, Global News Network, Philippine Star, BusinessWorld, the BusinessMirror, Philippine Daily Inquirer Online, Aftercall Magazine, Philippines Graphic, Radyo Veritas, dzIQ, dzAR, Globaltronics, QCreativs, Photoworld Manila, ASK and Illuminati Philippines.
This year’s major corporate sponsor was the Yuchengco Group of Cos. Other corporate champions included Arthaland, McDonald’s, Big Chill, Tully’s Coffee, Globe Telecommunications, DSL GAM LED Lighting Expert, Philips Lighting Systems, Smart Communications, Primer Group of Cos., Core, York, Victory Liner Inc., Aboitiz Group of Cos., Lopez Group of Cos., Philippine Business for Social Progress, Ayala Land, SM Supermalls, Victory Liner Incorporated, 2GoTravel, Canon Marketing Philippines, Campaigns and Grey, Leo Burnett Manila, the Makati Shangri-La Hotel plus Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila.
When the clock struck 8:30 p.m. on Saturday night, March 31, the Philippines was again engulfed in 60 minutes of darkness. A record-breaking 1,671 Filipino towns, cities, provinces and municipalities—ten more than last year—joined the rest of the world in taking a stand against climate change.
Earth Hour 2012 completed a record journey across over 6,525 cities, towns, provinces and municipalities in 150 countries and territories—its highest participation levels ever.