Pangasinan goes dark for Earth Hour 2019

A police officer continues with his duty in candlelight at the Pangasinan Police Provincial Office during Earth Hour on Saturday, March 30, 2019. (Contributed photo)

DAGUPAN CITY — Police stations, malls, and other business establishments in Pangasinan province turned off their lights for an hour on Saturday night to participate in this year’s Earth Hour.

Photos of police officers manning their candle-lit stations in the 44 towns and four cities of the province flooded social media, shortly after they switched off their lights from 8:30 p.m to 9:30 p.m.

Earth Hour is an annual worldwide event launched by the World Wide Fund for Nature in 2007 to encourage households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights for an hour to raise awareness about the need to take action on climate change.

At SM City in Urdaneta City, a colorful centerpiece made up of recycled plastic bottles was lit after mall officials switched off their lights.

SM Urdaneta switched on a lighted centerpiece made up of recycled bottles outside as it switched off its main lights at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 30, 2019. (Contributed photo)

Mall employees, tenants, and shoppers then imprinted their palms on a wall to pledge their commitment to save the Earth, according to Kristine Santiago, SM’s public relations officer.

In La Union province, this year’s Earth Hour celebration was hosted by Bacnotan town, where a series of activities were lined up on Saturday.

Some 200 bikers participated in the “Pedal for Earth” on Saturday afternoon, which was aimed at promoting health and wellness and environment-friendly activities, according to the Philippine Information Agency.

At 8:30 p.m., public lights were switched off and more than 60 ceremonial lights were seen in the town hall.

Students from the town’s schools performed songs and dances during the hour of darkness. /atm