Several commercial districts in Metro Manila went dark Saturday night, switching off or dimming their lights as Earth Hour swept through the country from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. local time (12:30-1:30 p.m. GMT).

At the Mall of Asia in Pasay City, commercial establishments turned off their lights at 8:30 p.m., radio dzBB's Manny Vargas reported. Many shoppers at the mall lighted candles during the one hour of darkness.

In Quezon City, radio dzBB's Roland Bola reported that except for two shopping centers, many commercial establishments at the Araneta Center dimmed their lights.

The Earth Hour at the Metrowalk area in Pasig City was more festive as a band played music when the lights were dimmed or switched off, dzBB's Paulo Santos reported.

In Makati City, lights at the Philippine Stock Exchange were switched off.

In the vicinity of the EDSA-Timog area, several tall buildings including the GMA Network Center as well as big swaths of nearby residential communities were also observed as having their lights dimmed or switched off.

Lighting inside substations of the Metro Rail Transit remained switched on, however.—JV, GMA News