Makati Joins Earth Hour

Join the celebration at Ayala Tower One!

A significant number of business establishments have pledged their participation in the observance of Makati Earth Hour on March 29, in which lights will simultaneously be turned off in various parts of the city from 8pm to 9pm.

Department of Environmental Services (DES) chief Danilo Villas said Adel Licos, Manager of the Ayala Social Initiatives Center for Social Development of the Ayala Foundation Inc., has confirmed that Ayala Land, Inc., Ayala Malls, Makati Commercial Estate Association (MACEA), Ayala Center Association, and Ayala Foundation will participate in the city’s observance of Earth Hour this Saturday, simultaneous with 24 other cities worldwide.

According to Licos, the Ayala Malls group will turn off 50 per cent of common area lights in Greenbelt and Paseo de Magallanes in Makati, as well as its properties in adjacent localities, including Market! Market!, Bonifacio High Street, Serendra, Alabang Town Center, Metropoint and Pavilion Mall at 8pm.

Likewise, commercial buildings including Tower 1, Makati Stock Exchange, Ayala 6750, Ayala Life-FGU Center, and BPI, parking areas including Dela Rosa 1, 2 and 3, and residential buildings will reduce by 75 per cent their total light illuminations in areas like corridors and common areas.

Also in the ‘lights off’ list are Ayala Triangle, monuments, pedestrian lights, and double-arm street lights along Ayala Avenue, Makati Avenue, and Paseo de Roxas. Meanwhile, 50 per cent of Salcedo and Legaspi Villages park globe lights, or 405 bulbs, will be shut off. Licos said they have sent out invitations to other business establishments located in the Makat central business district to take part in the community-wide undertaking, and are actively campaigning among employees of the Ayala Group.

“On behalf of the city government of Makati, I would like to extend our sincerest thanks to the Ayala Group of Companies for their support and cooperation in this noble undertaking. They have been our staunch partner for years in protecting and preserving our environment. Likewise, I call on other business organizations and establishments to also take part in this global campaign,” Villas said.

Meanwhile, the city government will hold the Makati City Earth Hour Program at Tower 1, Ayala Avenue at 7pm. WWF-Philippines, the city’s partner organization in the event, will present the rationale behind the Earth Hour. They will also show a video presentation regarding the project.

Mayor Jejomar C. Binay will lead other officials and guests in the one-minute countdown to Earth Hour from 7:59 to 8:00pm. He will also do the ceremonial turning off of lights in the area at exactly 8pm.

Starting 8 pm Saturday, the city government will turn off the lights in 741 lamp posts on Kalayaan Avenue, South Avenue, Makati Avenue, J.P. Rizal, Buendia, and F. Zobel St. The lights at the Makati City Hall will also be turned off, along with those in the city’s 33 barangay halls. All barangay chiefs have pledged to encourage residents to switch off all or some of their household lights during Earth Hour.

Binay has directed the Makati Police, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the barangay Bantay Bayan to maintain high visibility during the one hour lights-off period, which will be duplicated in key cities in Europe, Asia and the Americas.

In the city’s central business district, underpasses will also close at 8 pm, two hours earlier than its regular closing time of 10 pm, and pedestrians will be asked to use road crossings.

To signal the start of the one-hour activity, fire trucks from the Makati Fire Department will turn on their sirens a minute before 8 pm. Jeepney drivers will also blow their horns as a signal for residents and participating establishments to turn off their lights. At 9 pm, the sirens and horns will again be sounded to signal the end of Earth Hour.