Arroyo orders lights off for billboards by 9 p.m.

CEBU, Philippines - The city will not be as bright as it used to be after 9 p.m.

This after instruction was given by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo through Executive Order 774 that states “all neon and high-wattage lights on billboards and other outdoor advertisements should be turned off by 9 p.m.”

The executive order is made in order to help in the conservation of energy and in the same time help in getting rid of dangerous effects coming from the lights.

Mary Ann Alcordo-Solomon, the president of the Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines- Cebu Chapter, said that they are in favor of the executive order.

But Solomon of Alcordo Advertising said that they will still have to notify their clients about this order.

According to Solomon, this would help their clients save in electric bills as it normally costs them about P1, 500 per month for each billboard.

The executive order states that owners, who would want to keep the lights of their billboards on until past 9 p.m. may be allowed if they pay an extra amount, but this is not encouraged as it is a waste of energy.

Billboards Down

Meanwhile, Solomon said that due to the bad weather, they have slowly started to take down their billboards and large tarpaulins to avoid accidents.

 Vangie Tolentino of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Association said that the light rains and cool breeze are caused by a cold front.

Tolentino said that in Cebu, we are having light to moderate breeze only compared to a much stronger one experienced in Legazpi, Laoag and Baguio.

She also stated that due to the global warming, the change of weather is “very unpredictable” and would be hard to determine when the cold front would completely be gone. — AJ de la Torre/NLQ   (THE FREEMAN)