INDIVIDUALS, groups, music fans and environmentalists around the world united Saturday for Live Earth, a concert to raise awareness and funds for the global climate crisis including the Philippines. One of the biggest local events was the “Saranay” (Ilocano word meaning “nurture”) held in Bangui Bay, Ilocos Norte, site of the first wind farm in Southeast Asia. Local students from all over the Ilocos Region performed cultural song and dance numbers while hundreds of Ilocanos as well as friends joined the celebration. The focus on the internationally acclaimed Bangui windmills—as explained earlier by local officials including Rep. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Gov. Michael Keon—was meant to trumpet the desirability of renewable energy sources like wind and solar, both abundant in the Philippines, in providing a concrete alternative to fossil fuels that have been blamed for speeding up the pace of global warming. A signing of a pledge to protect the environment was also undertaken on Saturday at the windmills’ site by the local government officials including Ilocos Norte Vice Gov. Wendell Chua; Bangui Mayor Salvacion Sales Cimatu; Pagudpud Mayor Marlon Sales; Shermon Cruz of Green Ilocos Norte; Haribon Foundation’s executive director Anabelle Plantilla; Edvee Cruz of Live Earth Philippines and the national business daily, the BUSINESSMIRROR, represented by its columnist Jonathan de la Cruz and writer Tet Andolong.

ILOCOS youth dance at the “Salute to Mother Earth” celebration at Bangui, Ilocos Norte, with the windmills in background (right) as one of the local events coinciding with the “Live Earth” series on climate change issues. BUSINESSMIRROR’s Tet Andolong affi xes her signature to the pledge. --NONOY LACZA

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