Calbayog to participate in Earth Hour 2010

(Image courtesy of www.adayinthelifeofrj.com)

Calbayog City will join the rest of the world in observing Earth Hour 2010. The City Government through the City Solid Waste Management Office (CSWMO) and the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) has come up with a three-hour program which will be held at the City Hall Stage this coming Saturday, March 27, 2010. A memorandum and an Executive Order signed by Mayor Mel Sarmiento has been distributed to local government and private offices as well as the various non-government organizations. Details of the program are as follows:

Part I Pre-Program

• 6:00 PM: Opening Remarks by Vice Mayor Ronaldo Aquino
• Rationale to be given by Councilor Susano Salurio, Chairperson of the Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on the Environment.
• Calls for Participation and Support from the three districts of Calbayog namely, Tinambacan, Oquendo and Calbayog.
• 7:00 PM: Video Showing of Earth Hour
• 7:10 PM Video Showing of Documentaries on the Environment

Part II Program Proper

• 8:20 PM: Opening Prayer by Rev. Fr. Iluminado Paulino
• 10-second countdown to Earth Hour 2010
• 8:30 PM: Ceremonial Switch-off of Lights led by Mayor Mel Sarmiento with the City Officials and the Department Managers
• Message by Congressman Reynaldo Uy
• Hands Play entitled "The Mission" by the SOS Youth
• Talk on Tips on how top conserve energy by Mr. Lorenzo Ras, Earth Hour 2010 Calbayog Focal Person
• Pledge of Commitment led by Councilor Susano Salurio
• Song and Dance numbers
• Update on areas that have switched-off by the Documentation / Advocacy Committee, DYOG Radyo ng Bayan, Cable TV Channel 9 & Radyo Natin FM.
• 9:30 PM: Switch ON
• Closing Message by Mayor Mel Senen Sarmiento

Mayor Mel Sarmiento to attend High-Level Symposium on "Cities, Climate Change and Finance" in Barcelona, Spain

Mayor Mel Sarmiento will be in Barcelona, Spain today. He will be participating in the High-Level Symposium on Cities, Climate Change and Finance. He is there upon the invitation of the event organizers namely, the City of Barcelona, the Government of Spain and the World Bank.

This event aims at promoting dialogue around climate-friendly city development paths and facilitating knowledge exchange within and between relevant stakeholder groups - city mayors, senior officials from government and city networks, business leaders, multilateral development organizations, leading thinkers form academia and research - from developing and developed countries.

The symposium, in particular will launch the "City Twinning for Carbon Finance Capacity Development" program, which will be assisted by CF-Assist, World Bank with the support of the Spanish government; and aims at fostering partnerships among cities for networking among peer and knowledge sharing on carbon finance in cities.

The event is also being held in conjunction with Carbon Expo 2009 which will be held in Barcelona, Spain from May 27 - 29, 2009. Said expo will feature the focal theme "Cities and Carbon Finance" in its official Conference and exhibition.

Mayor Sarmiento's expenses for this trip were paid for by the event organizers.

Mayor Mel Sarmiento to participate in the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) meetings in Rosario City, Argentina

Calbayog City Mayor and League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) Secretary-General Mel Senen Sarmiento will be in Rosario City, Argentina from April 27, 2009 to April 30, 2009.

As per information contained in the invitation sent by Rosario City Mayor and CIDEU Vice President Roberto Miguel Lifschitz, Mayor Sarmiento will participate in the meeting of the Commission of Urban Strategic Planning (USP) of the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG). Said meeting is one the side events during the 7th Congress of the Iberoamerican Center for the Urban Strategic Development (CIDEU).

The Rosario meeting of the USP Commission is aimed at developing the Policy Paper concerning Strategic Urban Development. Said paper will establish a guide on strategic urban planning themes based on different international experiences. That document aims to highlight local authorities’ priorities in dealing with the processes of planning and development strategies, and to create a tool that contains recommendations for an adequate supra-local framework that recognizes the worth of local strategic planning and decision-making.

On April 29, 2009, Mayor Sarmiento will be a speaker at an intercontinental roundtable event which is part of the technical seminar organized within the framework of the CIDEU Congress.

Mayor Sarmiento’s expenses for this trip were paid for by the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) Organization.

Earth Hour in Calbayog

(March 28, 2009) Calbayog City was one of the hundreds of cities in the country that participated in Earth Hour 2009. The program was held at the City Hall stage where the countdown commenced at around 6:00 pm.

Present in the events were Councilors Sonny Salurio, Danny Bernate, Ver Porlares, Virgil Clemens, Charlie Boy Coñejos, Ina Rabuya, Julius Mancol, Mon Uy, Jonas Montealto and Jim Uy. Mayor Mel Sarmiento and Vice Mayor Ronald Aquino had to beg off from the event due to some emergency.

The Department Managers present were City Administrator Arnol Trani, PNP Calbayog Chief PSupt Lito Bigoy, City Planning & Development Officer Gil Lentejas, City Engineer Oscar Hugo, General Services Officer Isagani Togonon, Local Civil Registrar Fe Queroljico, City Cooperatives Officer Cipriano Baldomaro, City Agriculturist Adela Ocenar, Environment Officer Jose Raz, Jr., CEEDMO Nida Beso, Solid Waste Management Officer Reynaldo Gonzaga and CSWD OIC Tess Mumar.

Also seen at the event were the barangay officials of Carmen, Balud and Aguit-itan; the youth scholars and staff of SOS Calbayog; some students from the City High School and the City's ISKOLARS from the City Arts and Culture Office.

Agencies that participated in the event included PNP-Calbayog, DYOG-Radyo Ng Bayan, Radyo Natin, Channel 6, SAMELCO-1, STI-Calbayog and the Bureau of Fire Protection.

The event officially started with the prayer which was delivered by Fr. Iluminado Paulino. The Ceremonial switch-off was led by Engr. Arnol Trani. Councilor Sonny Salurio delivered a message on behalf of the City Mayor. Councilor Danny Bernate led in the saying of the Earth Hour pledge and Mr. Jose Raz delivered a talk on energy conservation on behalf of the City Vice Mayor. Julie Ann Co delivered a short speech on behalf of the young people of Calbayog.

Intermission numbers were given by the some Calbayog National High School student, the CACO ISKOLARS and the SOS Community Scholars who presented a hand play dubbed as "The Mission".

It was reported that a good number of households in the city switched off their lights during the event. At 9:00 pm. SAMELCO-1 switched off its power supply making the consumers in their service area participants in the event for at least 30 minutes.

Fr. Dondon Paulino (on the rostrum) as he delivered the prayer.

The SOS Calbayog Community Scholars.

City Administrator Arnol Trani as he led the ceremonial switch-off. With him are (l-r) Councilor Ver Porlares, Fr. Dondon Paulino, Councilor Ina Rabuya, Councilor Sonny Salurio, Councilor Julius Mancol, Fr Queroljico (partly hidden), Nida Beso, Councilor Danny Bernate and Councilor Charlie Boy Coñejos.

Councilor Sonny Salurio as he delivered his message. Onstage with him were (l-r) Councilor Ver Porlares, Councilor Julius Mancol, Councilor Virgil Porlares, Councilor Jim U, Councilor Ina Rabuya, Fe Queroljico, Adela Ocenar, Nida Beso, Councilor Danny Bernate and Councilor Charlie Boy Coñejos.

With a "petromax" as stage light, the Iskolars performed "Isang Lahi".

(photos courtesy of Vaugh Calvara)

Calbayog joins Earth Hour 2009

Calbayog City supports observance of Earth Hour 2009

Calbayog City, March 16, 2009/ Come March 28, 2009, the whole city of Calbayog will put their lights out for just one hour, if only the city could have its way.

This morning City Vice Mayor Ronald Aquino led the ceremonial signing of the Pledge of Commitment for the observance of Earth Hour 2009.

Organized by the World Wildlife Fund in Sydney two years ago, Earth Hour is an international annual event which aims to give an opportunity to the people in the world to have their voices heard on the very important issue of global warming and to demand action on climate change.

For this year, the Earth hour is slated on March 28, when lights should be put out from 8:30 to 9:30 in the evening.

According to Vice Mayor Aquino, Mayor Mel Senen Sarmiento will lead in the ceremonial “lights out” at the city hall and this will include the switching off of lights at the public park and plaza, government buildings and the city streets. Even though it is not compulsory for every household or establishment to observe the Earth Hour, still Aquino encouraged everybody who has household appliances or anything that runs on electricity to switch them off in order to give mother earth a rest, even for just one hour on said date.

In signing the said commitment, the city also agrees to support any activity that will aid in the successful observance of earth hour. With this, Calbayog City becomes one with almost 2,000 towns and cities in 80 countries across the globe who pledged to support earth hour 2009. Even the romantic City of Paris will turn out the lights of its famous Eiffel Tower in support of the activity.

According to the earth hour’s website, this lights out initiative began as a one-city environmental campaign in Sydney, Australia in 2007, but has evolved into a grassroots action that has captured the attention of the citizens of the world. In 2008, 371 cities across 35 countries turned their lights out in a united call for action on climate change. For this year, the organizers expected 1,000 cities and towns to join the campaign, but for just a week before earth hour, the number is almost double, and among those counted is the City of Calbayog. (ELEEN S. LIM, Radyo Ng Bayan-Calbayog)

The Earth Hour 2009 Pledge of Commitment

You are looking at the text of the Earth Hour 2009 pledge of commitment. Part of Calbayog's participation in Earth Hour was the ceremonial signing of the pledge which was done during today's People's Day at the City Hall Sala. Mayor Mel Sarmiento and Vice Mayor Ronald Aquino led the City Officials, Department Managers and some private individuals in the activity.

Mayor Mel Senen Sarmiento

Vice Mayor Ronald Aquino

DILG City Director Valente Bajet

Some of the Department Managers as they took time to sign the Earht Hour pledge of commitment.