"Higantes" welcome the Greenpeace ship MV Arctic Sunrise on the first stop of the South East Asia Choose Positive Energy tour.
A proposal announced yesterday by the European Energy
Commissioner, Loyola de Palacio, to push polluting coal and nuclear
technology on developing countries via the Johannesburg Earth
Summit was met with a Greenpeace protest of gigantic proportions in
Manila today, as half a dozen traditional Filipino harvest giants
rallied at Manila Harbour.
The 5m papier mache protestors, and a traditional Filipino
25-piece string band, were on hand to welcome the Greenpeace ship
Arctic Sunrise, on the first stop of the South East Asia Choose
Positive Energy tour. The tour promotes clean renewable energy,
such as wind and solar, and supports the people of South East Asia
who reject polluting negative energy, such as coal and nuclear.
The giants, or "higantes", are one of the Philippine's most
famous cultural icons. Historically regional workers made
"higantes" for the harvest celebrations to both give thanks for the
crop, and at the same time poke fun at their unaware Spanish
overseers, who assumed the giants were honouring rather than
mocking them. Greenpeace South East Asia campaigns director, Athena
Ballesteros, described their appearance today as an apt response to
the Spanish European Commissioner's climate-disrupting
proposal.
"This is energy colonialism at its worst," said Ballesteros.
"Northern countries have no right to push their old-fashioned,
polluting technology on developing countries. The demand for
electricity in developing countries is growing, but these days
there is a choice. Why should developing countries be forced to
make the same mistakes their northern partners did?
The European nuclear industry is on its knees, crippled by
spiralling costs and a growing radioactive waste mountain. It is
simply obscene for the European Commission to push its deadly
mistakes on developing countries when the technology exists for
clean, sustainable energy now."
Plans to build coal-fired power stations to meet the
Philippines' expanding energy demand are mainly being funded from
northern countries, with companies including the UK/French
corporation, Alstom, seeking to gain massive profits from the sale
of equipment and technology to the Philippines.
"Global warming will continue to threaten the economies of
developing countries for as long as northern countries dump their
dangerous old fashioned technology on us," said Ballesteros.
"The worst of these nations, the Filthy Three - Australia, the
US and Canada - that are seeking to undermine international action
to address climate change, are just as keen as Europe to push their
climate-disrupting fossil fuels and radioactive, waste-generating
nuclear technology on us."
"Clean energy's contribution to sustainable development is
indisputable. The EU and companies like Alstom should take the lead
on renewable energy in countries like the Philippines instead of
pushing for large-scale polluting power plants. We welcome
renewable energy investments but we reject the expansion of coal or
nuclear investments."
The Arctic Sunrise will visit both the Philippines and Thailand,
where communities are rejecting the dirty energy technology of coal
fired power stations, and demanding clean renewable energy to fill
the growing demand.
The Greenpeace flagship, the Rainbow Warrior, is presently
campaigning in the North Sea against nuclear and fossil fuel energy
on the northern leg of the Choose Positive Energy Tour.
VVPR info: Pictures will be available on request from John Novis on +31 20524 9580
Notes: Visit www.greenpeace.southeastasia.org for more information