MANILA, Philippines --- An official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) yesterday asked young people to observe Earth Hour not only by shutting off electricity but also by turning off their gadgets such as cellphones.

“It is not only the electricity that we need to shut down, but also gadgets like mobile phones, playstations, portable iPad, etc,”  Fr. Conegundo Garganta, CBCP’s youth commission executive secretary, said in an interview with CBCP News.

“The event is challenging us to change our lifestyle; [we need to] consider and evaluate how we are responding or behaving as stewards and inhabitants of this planet, Earth,” he added.

Garganta said one hour is just a small sacrifice compared to the many gifts and blessings that the planet is providing us.

“We should also think of ways to contribute more on how we can further save the positive resources that we have as inhabitants of Earth,” he said.

The CBCP official then encouraged young people not to become slaves of gadgets and modern-day equipments.