Philippines' Earth Day Celebration and Presidential Proclamation No. 1481. are 2 important things to remember every April 22, 2010. Philippines' Earth Day 2010 has the theme: “Hamon ng Panahon: CLIMATE CHANGE; 10 Milyung Solusyon (Kilos Na! Ngayon na!)”.

We just finished celebrating World Water Day which was quite timely since we are experiencing El Niño and then Earth hour (Which we have ironically have lots of power outages/rotating brown outs), now Earth day is coming up this April 22, 2010!

Earth Day was founded by former US senator Gaylord Nelson. He proposed the first nationwide environmental protest. The activity saw people on the streets fighting against various forms of environment degradation including oil spills, polluting factories, raw sewage, toxic dumps and pesticides. The first Earth Day also led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

It began with the Proclamation No. 553, issued on April 16, 1990 and signed by then President Corazon C. Aquino proclaimed April 22, 1990 as "Earth Day 1990" to raise the level of awareness on the gravity of environmental degradation and destruction in the country that threatens the very quality of life of many Filipinos; then, with Proclamation No. 1276, signed by President Gloria M. Arroyo and issued on April 20, 2007 declared April 22, 2007 as Philippines' Earth Day.

The Proclamation No. 1276 identified the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as the main convenor of the celebration and enjoined all agencies of the executive branch including but not limited to commissions, national government agencies, local government units (LGUs), state universities and colleges, government-owned and controlled corporations, in cooperation with other private sectors of society, i.e. the Church, Industry, Civil Society and other Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) to come up with environmental activities.

And then, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared April 22 as the Philippines' Earth Day, a permanent national environmental holiday, through Presidential Proclamation No. 1481.

What will you be doing this Earth Day?