Liter of Light Attempts Guinness World Record for Building Solar Lights to Raise Awareness for Sustainable Energy

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On Wednesday, January 10, 2018, social enterprise Liter of Light will attempt to set a Guinness World Record for building solar light in order to raise awareness and action for the millions of people in the Philippines and around the world who lack access to clean, affordable energy.

The Guinness World Record attempt will take place in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, under the patronage of the Zayed Future Energy Prize in celebration of its 10th year anniversary.

Liter of Light won the seventh edition of the Zayed Future Energy Prize in the Non-Profit Organization (NPO/NGO) category in 2015, and is the only Filipino organization to have won this prestigious prize.

The world’s biggest award for renewable energy and sustainability honored the organization for an innovative lighting solution that addresses the combined challenge of climate change, energy security, and the environment. The Liter of Light empowers communities by training locals how to manufacture and install solar lights, creating hundreds of job opportunities for sectors not commonly involved with energy, such as rural women’s cooperatives, youth groups, and refugee camps.

The Guinness World Record attempt will call on thousands of students and young volunteers to participate in an environmental sustainability lesson, where they will build simple, repairable solar lights that will be rendered into an art installation at the end of the day.

“Liter of Light’s Guinness World Record endeavor is about more than setting a new milestone for community-built solar lighting,” said Illac Diaz, Founder and Executive Director of the Liter of Light. “In organizing this large-scale action, we want to raise awareness for the millions who continue to live without access to clean energy, including the tens of thousands of Muslim Filipinos in the southern areas of Mindanao.”

Liter of Light has already brought 131 streetlights and thousands of community-built solar lights to Marawi as part of relief efforts, but tens of thousands remain displaced by the conflict. Without access to electricity, the communities in the post-conflict zone will continue to suffer from increased vulnerability to theft and violence.

Construction of South East Metro Manila Expressway Project to Start In April 2018

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Traveling from Quezon City to Taguig in just 35 minutes will soon become a reality with the construction of the Southeast Metro Manila Expressway (SEMME) finally underway.

Earlier today, the Department of Transportation - Toll Regulatory Board (DOTr-TRB), in partnership with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), led the groundbreaking and time capsule laying for the first phase of the SEMME or the C-6 Expressway Project. Construction is targeted to start in April 2018, however, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade instructed concessionaire San Miguel Corp. to start the construction sooner.

“We hope to start construction in April 2018, but Secretary Tugade wants us to start earlier. What we can say is that we will do our best to make this possible at the soonest possible time,” SMC Engineer Norberto Conti said during the briefing of the SEMME project.

The transport chief regarded the C-6 Expressway project as a project that was made possible with the full cooperation and support of concerned national and local government agencies and the private sector.

“Ngayon, nagpupulong tayo para maisakatuparan ang pangarap ng taumbayan na mapasimulan itong C-6 expressway project. Ang mensahe natin ngayong umaga — nagawa ang proyektong ito dahil united at buo ang gabinete ng Pangulo,” Tugade said.

The SEMME project is a 34.024-kilometer, six-lane, combined elevated and at-grade expressway with two directional traffic flow. It will start in the south with a connection to the existing Skyway Stage 1 in FTI, Taguig City, and would terminate in Batasan Complex in Quezon City. It will eventually connect to the North Luzon Expressway via Balagtas.

Aside from decongesting roads in Manila and Quezon City, particularly major road networks such as EDSA, C-5, Ortigas Avenue, and its extension, SEMME shall likewise provide commuters and motorists fast and direct access by South and Southeast, as well as Metro Manila inter-city travelers, to major international and domestic airports.

Once completed, travel time from Bicutan, Taguig to Batasan, Quezon City will be reduced to only 35 minutes.

Phase 1 of the project is targeted to be completed in 2020.

Department of Public Works and Highway (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar, meanwhile, said the Build,Build,Build team “will work 24/7 to make the project possible.”

“Abangan ninyo po ang sunod-sunod na ground-breaking ceremonies this year. These are infrastructure projects that will lead to the accomplishment of the Build, Build, Build vision, soon,” Villar said.

For her part, Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano lauded the efforts of the Build,Build,Build team in making the long-awaited C-6 project a reality.

“It appears our hope and aspirations are now a tangible reality. I am excited for our fellow Filipinos who will soon take advantage of this expressway project that will surely boost connectivity and mobility here in Metro Manila,” the Taguig local chief executive said.

The groundbreaking ceremony was also attended by Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) President and CEO Vince Dizon, and Antipolo City Mayor Jun Ynares.

Embracing Both the Positive and Negative Aspects of Life

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So when people say they just want positive vibes and avoid toxic news, it's like saying they prefer to live a one-sided life only.

When we avoid the negativities, we shut ourselves from experiencing the real world, and miss the opportunity to offer solutions to the issues.

Yeah, maybe we just don't want to add more to our own problems, but the world and its problems should also be our concern.

This world we call Earth, or let us say we limit it to our own country, requires the cooperation of every resident to survive. We are always in the brink of a disaster if we continue to ignore our social responsibility.

This is why we believe that it is important to get ourselves involved by also knowing the faults, irregularities, shortcomings and other unsatisfactory traits, so we could properly come up with the right solution. But please do understand that we could only share our findings once we've fully confirmed them as true.

We need to be inquisitive enough to ask all the necessary questions, but also be able to offer our recommendations, and be man enough to apologize if we made a mistake.

Sometimes people just need to know that others are watching their every move so they would work diligently, and not abuse their perks and privileges.

But not to the extent of being paranoid or panicky, that we lose our sense of enjoying life as we deem fit and necessary. Itbis true that we could not save the world on our own, but we could at least try to share our part in nation-building.

All would probably be alright if each one of us have at least one advocacy focused on certain aspects of bringing back the glory of nature, deconstructing our badly-designed civilization, making efforts to eat and promote healthier food, educating the misinformed or less knowledgeable, or any other form of sustainable activities to reshape our world into its better form.

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