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Manila: Greenpeace lifted a blockade on coal shipments to a Southern Luzon power plant yesterday after Senator Miguel Zubiri assured the group that he would seek a moratorium on the use of coal in the Philippines.
In the incident last Sunday, the organisation had docked the mothership, the Rainbow Warrior, within the vicinity of Team Energy's Pagbilao coal plan in Quezon province, some 150 kilometres south of Metro Manila, essentially blockading coal shipments and disrupting operations of the power-generating plant.
Greenpeace is calling on the government instead to tap the massive potential of clean, safe, renewable energy such as solar, geothermal, wind and energy from water currents, among others. Greenpeace had initially planned to enforce the blockade for several days had the senator not intervened.
In a communique to Rainbow Warrior, Senator Zubiri said: "I will file a resolution in the Senate seeking a halt in the construction of new coal-fired power plants." He added that a Renewable Energy Bill would allow a shift towards a low-carbon economy, and away from dependence on fossil fuels, particularly coal.
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