Filed under: Stop climate change | Tags: climate defenders camp, coal, iloilo city, Metrobank
Sorry but my last entry didn’t show up on the website (internet doesn’t always work on the ship). So I give you again an overview of the last days.
When the sun rose on Monday morning I climbed into one of the inflatables from the Rainbow Warrior and headed with mixed feelings towards the Climate Defenders Camp on the shore.
Filed under: Stop climate change | Tags: Climate Change, coal, iloilo city, Metrobank
Filed under: Greenpeace Core Values, Stop climate change | Tags: coal, iloilo city, non-violence, panay power corporation, Philippines
News came about of intimidation from Panay Power Corporation (PPC), wherein their men harassed the Greenpeace Climate Defenders Camp in Barangay Ingore, Iloilo City, Philippines and endangered the safety of peaceful activists.
Filed under: Stop climate change | Tags: climate defenders camp, coal, iloilo city, Philippines, pro-coal
Have you ever been surrounded by 20 people shouting at you in a language you don’t understand? Quite scary. Yesterday in the early hours of the evening the pro coal chief of the village next to our camp had organized his relatives to come to the camp and shout their pro coal messages. The atmosphere seemed tense.
Filed under: Stop climate change | Tags: climate defenders camp, iloilo city, Philippines, Quit Coal, Rainbow Warrior, Renewable Energy
Greenpeace yesterday established their Climate Defenders Camp at the exact site of a proposed coal-fired power plant in Barangay Ingore, Iloilo City. The camp consists of a tower and tents on a seaside area that was previously used for fish ponds but now allocated for the said coal plant. Banners with messages saying ‘Quit Coal, Save the Climate’ and ‘Coal causes Climate Change’ are hung around the camp, located a few kilometers away from the center of the city. Since yesterday, Greenpeace activists who are staying in the camp have been transmitting messages and images of the protest to a global audience and seek support to stop the proposed coal-fired power plant. The activists are joined by local volunteers, representatives from RISE (Responsible Ilonggos for Sustainable Energy), and crew from the organization’s flagship Rainbow Warrior, currently in the Philippines for its ‘Quit Coal – Save the Climate’ ship tour. The Rainbow Warrior is anchored near the Climate Defenders Camp, providing support to Greenpeace volunteers on the ground.
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Filed under: Stop climate change | Tags: climate defenders camp, coal, iloilo city, Philippines
Do you remember the movie “The day after tomorrow” ? When I watched it a shudder ran through me and I felt helpless with this dooms day atmosphere in relation to Climate Change. Entering the climate defenders camp this morning here in Iloilo, Philippines in the area of a proposed coal fired power plant, reveals a completely different picture; laughter, colourful flags and banners all around the site, happy but tired Greenpeace activists are working to improve the camp and an atmosphere of peace prevails.
Filed under: Stop climate change | Tags: climate defenders camp, coal, iloilo city, Rainbow Warrior, solar cafe
We arrived on site early in the morning to set up the Solar Cafe, our venue for engaging the community in what we were doing at the proposed coal plant site. From a distance I could see the volunteer-filled inflatables waiting by the coastline, and the sight of the approaching Rainbow Warrior and all that it stood for still made me catch my breath, even as I was apprehensive about how the first few hours would turn out. Somehow the shipís presence gave me reassurance that everything was going to be okay, that our teams would be safe, and that we would be able to deliver our message loud and clear.
Filed under: Stop climate change | Tags: Angel Aquino, climate defenders camp, Greenpeace, iloilo city, independence day
Greenpeace volunteer and celebrity Angel Aquino visits the Climate Defenders Camp in Iloilo City.
Actress, model and longtime Greenpeace advocate Angel Aquino celebrates Independence Day with Greenpeace’s Climate Defenders Camp.
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I find this quote from Bill Pullman in from the movie Independence Day quite timely:
“We will not go quietly into the night!” We will not vanish without a fight! We’re going to live on! We’re going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!
Chuck Baclagon
Filed under: Stop climate change | Tags: coal, iloilo city, Noel Cabangon, Philippines, solidarity night
We were all in high hopes as music from Noel Cabangon and other local artists filled the halls of the Pius XII Catechetical School in Iloilo for a solidarity concert that was held with the local coal opposition in Iloilo, and what made it extra special is that as we were about to start news came that the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading on the Renewable Energy Bill that would expedite the development of renewable and indigenous energy sources, a wonderful night indeed….
Chuck Baclagon
Filed under: Stop climate change | Tags: Climate Change, climate defenders camp, Greenpeace, iloilo city, Rainbow Warrior
Do you still remember those war movies with scenes that have the protagonists surrounded by their enemies and then all of a sudden the cavalry arrives and then the tables are turned and the heroes are now on the winning side of the battle?
In a way that’s what we felt now that the Rainbow Warrior has arrived.
The day was greeted with hope that what has been so far accomplished since the ship’s arrival here in the Philippines for our Quit Coal Tour will be replicated in this leg of the tour.
Greenpeace Southeast Asia 