“Knowing is half the battle,” Pupil’s Ely Buendia remarks.

When WWF Philippines approached Ely’s record label to ask permission to use his band’s song “Disconnection Notice” to help promote this year’s Earth Hour, naturally they agreed to let the group use it for free.

Days later, videos of flash mobs dancing to a remix version of the song on two separate occasions—one at the Mall of Asia grounds, the other at Bonifacio High Street—appeared on YouTube through WWF Philippines’ channel, and others that posted them.

Strictly speaking, a flash mob is a sudden assembly of people (who usually get instructions to do so through electronic means like text messages or email) performing pointless acts in a public place and then dispersing just as quickly.

While in foreign cities flash mob participants have gained notoriety, often spurring police forces into action, flash mobs now are also being organized to serve projects with a purpose. It isn’t so pointless anymore.

The Earth Hour flash mobs, as seen on YouTube, found their fuel on the repeating lines of Pupil’s song that became practically the battle cry for this global call to action: “Turn off the lights now…” Ely repeats on “Disconnection Notice.”

“’Yung message for Earth Hour, talagang nandun sa kanta,” he notes. “It’s obvious… and parang right for the project. Nung ginagwa ko ‘yung kanta, siguro at the back of my mind parang naisip ko na pwedeng magamit sa ganito[ng cause]… At nagka-totoo.”

And while Ely himself would only sheepishly admit to being an environmentalist “in principle,” perhaps opting not to sound like a preacher of sorts, he nevertheless says that at least his house has a lot of windows and cross ventilation that effectively lets them reduce energy consumption.

The night before the celebration of Earth Hour 2010 on March 27 at 8:30 pm, WWF Philippines triumphantly declared via email that over a thousand Philippine cities and municipalities have pledged their support for the global call to action. Last year, the Philippines reportedly ranked #1 worldwide when it came to the total number of towns and cities that participated in Earth Hour.

According to their release, “Earth Hour 2009 inspired over 10 Million Filipinos in 647 cities and municipalities to switch off their lights, saving an estimated 611MWh of electricity – equivalent to shutting down a dozen coal-fired power-plants for an hour.”

Meanwhile, Paolo Abrera—last year’s Earth Hour Ambassador and this year’s host for the Earth Hour celebration at The Fort—puts participation in perspective.

“I think Earth Hour is an important ‘gesture’ that we all can make. [It’s] all about everyone getting together in a universal action, so that governments, big business and the decision-makers take notice that people are serious about wanting them to address the issues of climate change and the associated problems that it brings.”

Paolo, a biking aficionado who even used to go from his place in the South to ABS-CBN in Quezon City on his trusty mountain bike, says that the Earth Hour is a symbolic effort. While energy savings, per se, is not its ultimate goal, “Imagine what we can achieve if we all act together. It's high time we take responsibility for the way we've lived on the earth.”

It’s a slow, uphill battle after years and years of people living wantonly at the expense of Mother Nature. As heat waves become stronger, the weather more dangerous, and pollution levels risen to such degree that living in metropolitan areas now pose potentially serious health hazards, we should now realize that change could begin within ourselves—no matter how small a step we take.

“It will come slowly. But the important thing, in my mind, is a mindset of wanting alternatives, wanting solutions and a willingness to change,” Paolo finishes.

Here’s why other celebrities cared and what they did to participate:

Mark Escueta, Rivermaya

“We actually had a concert in Biñan, Laguna around that time but because of Earth Hour, our show started at 9:30pm. Lights out before that. [It’s] not a hard adjustment to make to be part of such a worthy cause. I hope that through events such as this one, more people would realize that sometimes doing something significant for our environment is as simple as doing or 'using' less of something.

Ebe Dancel, Sugarfree

“We also had an out of town gig from 7-8pm. But I did my share by turning everything off for an hour that day. Everything that’s been going on lately, I think we should all be alarmed by how we treat our planet. Things are getting worse every year. The El Niño phenomenon is becoming more dangerous. Typhoons are getting stronger. Sabi nga ng “Tik Tok” campaign, ‘Let us make haste, before it's too late, no time to waste.’ Let's help each other now!”

Ira Cruz, Bamboo

“We definitely participated. If we try to do what we can when we can, even if it's in our own little way… collectively, we can all make a bigger difference.”