Sen. Sonny Angara INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
Senator Sonny Angara has filed a resolution reaffirming the support of the Senate for the objectives of Earth Hour and Earth Day, and encouraging Filipinos to observe these celebrations.
“This year, Earth Hour has a global focus on climate change. Given our vulnerability to natural disasters, the objectives of these celebrations are particularly relevant to our country,” Angara said in a statement on Friday.
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Earth Hour is an annual global environmental movement encouraging individuals, communities, households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. on the last Saturday of March, as a symbol of their commitment to the planet.
The Philippines has been participating in the annual Earth Hour since 2009, and has earned the title of “Earth Hour Hero Country” from 2009 to 2013 for topping participation records with over 15 million Filipinos joining the event.
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Meanwhile, Earth Day, which is annually celebrated worldwide every 22nd of April, seeks to broaden the base support for environmental programs, rekindle public commitment and build community activism around the world through a broad range of events and activities.
In the Philippines, the Earth Day Network Philippines and the Alliance for Green Philippines are composed of more than 2,000 entities from different sectors, organizations, local government units, businesses, churches and schools all working for environmental protection, conservation and awareness.
“Our support for Earth Hour and Earth Day should not waver. I call on the public to show once again to the world our solidarity in combating climate change,” Angara said.
“More importantly, we must go beyond one hour in showing our commitment to the planet by taking accountability for our ecological footprint and engaging in dialogue and resource exchange to provide real solutions to our environmental challenges,” the senator added.
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The Philippines was named the top country most affected by climate change in 2013 by the environmental organization German Watch in its recent study, the 2015 Global Climate Risk Index. The Philippines was followed by Cambodia, India and Mexico in the list of countries most affected by weather-related disasters such as storms, floods, and heatwaves.
Based on the EM-DAT International Disaster Database by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, from 2010 to 2014 alone, Angara said, the total economic damage suffered by the Philippines from natural disasters also ballooned to more than US$14 billion or P626 billion from US$1.7 billion or P76 billion during the period of 2000 to 2009.
The senator said the same international database showed that the number of recorded deaths in the country due to natural disasters went up from roughly 7,000 between 2000 and 2009 to 12,000 between 2010 and 2014. ID