THE FLAGSHIP OF GREENPEACE – the legendary RAINBOW WARRIOR,
docked today, March 13, 2019, at the Cebu International Port, Philippines. It
is their first time in Cebu and they would be here until March 17th. The ship
is on a global campaign against plastic pollution and they choose the
Philippines as their first stop.
SHIP IT BACK!
PLASTIC SHIP TOUR: PHILIPPINES
The presence of the RAINBOW WARRIOR exerts pressure on the
source of these fast-moving-consumer-goods which belonged to the big
multinationals and Philippine corporations. These are the consumer single-use
plastic that you buy everyday and are very cheap like sachets, bottles, straws, styropors, eating utensils, cups, gloves, stirrers and packaging or are part of
the goods you buy like transparent plastic.
Both are the greatest polluters in our oceans but the latter is the
most dangerous for it will disintegrate into microscopic fibers after many
years and becomes part of the diet of fishes and all other marine creatures.
Ultimately, it goes through our system, invading our arteries and veins, the
heart and the brain. That is alarming!
It is time for action. The result of the brand audit activity taken
from the recent Lahug Creek cleanup in Cebu City have identified the top three
multinationals which own most of the FCMG. According to Ms. Beau Baconguis of Break
Free from Plastic, Filipinos spend 59 billion pesos on FCMG a year with which
volume would cover the whole island of Cebu under 33 millimeters of plastic.
A press conference was held on board the aft deck of the Greenpeace
flagship and highlighted by the symbolic signing of the Declaration for a Cebu
Free of Single-use Plastic by Greenpeace representatives; the Cebu Provincial
Government, thru its offices of Tourism and the Environment and Natural
Resources; Break Free from Plastic; 5 Pieces Daily Habits; the media;
volunteers; activists; and other stakeholders.
Eventually, I affixed my internet nom de guerre – PinoyApache – on the
life-sized document. There is no turning back for me. I am not a dedicated
advocate against plastic use even though I am already practicing this personal
aversion on plastic since the early ‘90s but I see a ray of hope that this
menace called single-use plastic and its FCMG cousins would finally be rid from
Cebu’s shores. Let us ship it back to where it belonged!
I consider myself fortunate to have the privilege of visiting on deck
the RAINBOW WARRIOR which I have longed for many years. In fact, this is
the second Greenpeace ship that I have had the honor of boarding, the first one
being the ESPERANZA in September 2006 in the same Port of Cebu. My
presence is anchored on the invitation as a blogger, representing Warrior
Pilgrimage.
For those who do not know it yet, this is the third version of the RAINBOW
WARRIOR. The first one was bombed by French agents in 1985 while docked in
New Zealand and was towed to its watery grave to become an artificial reef. The
second saw action in 1989 and was decommissioned in 2011. The first ship was mostly
used against anti-whaling, anti-seal hunting and anti-nuke campaigns in the
‘70s and ‘80s.
This new ship is actually a yacht. It uses sails most of the time when
cruising on the oceans and has electric propulsion powered by both wind and by internal combustion engine which the crew use when there are no breeze to fill the sails and
when on docking and undocking maneuvers.
It has a state-of-the-art design pertaining to its masts which are made
of aircraft aluminum A-frames. The two crow’s nests travel on vertical rails
like an elevator and are powered by electric motors. It recycles and reuse its
bilge and sewage through biological treatments and no waste water is dislodged
to the sea. Capt. Pete Wilcox, who served both older ships, is the current
master.
For the duration of the stay of crew and ship, there will be a SHIP IT
BACK Campus Tour on March 14th at the University of San Jose-Recoletos
Magallanes Campus in the morning and the University of Cebu Mandaue-Lapulapu
Campus in the afternoon. A whole day activity is reserved for an open visit by
community partners.
Then on March 15th and 16th, the ship is open for visits and tours. The
first day there will be a Green Fair in the morning and a fund-raising mini
concert by local artists is slated in the evening. On the second day, a special
dinner on board the ship will be hosted by Greenpeace for its supporters and
friends.
The fore deck of the ship, near the prow, there is a wooden image of a
dolphin. It belonged to the first RAINBOW WARRIOR, the one damaged by
state-sponsored terrorism. It reminds the present crew and visitors of the
memory of the scuttled ship and its lone casualty, the photographer Fernando
Pereira.
On both portside and stayboardside, there is a colorful painting of a Kwakiutl Native American art, of Pacific Northwest origin, on the
superstructure. It symbolizes harmony with nature. Lastly, a Cree prophecy says that “when the world is
sick and dying, people will rise up like WARRIORS of the RAINBOW...”
Document
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