DOJ chief lashes at Greenpeace foreigners in anti-coal protest
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. yesterday lashed at foreigners who joined protest actions against a proposed coal-fired power plant in this city.
"They should not interfere in our affairs. They should be stopped," Gonzalez said in a telephone interview.
Gonzalez said he has directed the regional office of the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation to investigate the papers of the foreigners and their involvement in protest actions against the coal plant.
"I will not allow them to do those things there (Iloilo City)," he said.
The foreigners are members and volunteers of the environmental activist group Greenpeace which has been here since June 7 as part of an international campaign against coal plants.
Greenpeace Climate and Energy Campaigner Jasper Inventor said it is within the authority of the BID to inspect the ship and its crew and to verify their papers.
"But we hope this is not meant to pressure us and Greenpeace activists from other countries to stop our protest against the project," said Inventor in an earlier interview.
Greenpeace is one of the largest international environmental organization with offices in over 20 countries. It works for environmental conservation and the preservation of endangered species.
The group along with local environmental and church groups held a three-day protest in La Paz District here until Monday. They erected a 20-foot portable tower and unfurled streamers and banners against the project, inside the 40-hectare property of the Panay Power Corp.
Activists had strapped themselves to tower and refused to leave until the project is shelved. But barangay officials and some residents who are supporting the project threatened to forcibly remove the structure if the protesters will not leave.
PPC and the Metrobank subsidiary Global Business Power Corp (GBPC) are pushing for the construction of a 164-mw coal-fired plant.
Greenpeace on Monday also dumped 20 sacks of charcoal in front of a Metrobank branch here to protest the proposed coal-fired power plant project.
Gonzalez said the group committed acts of "vandalism" and could be sued by the bank.
BID Regional Director Francisco Artuz on Sunday inspected the Greenpeace ship, Rainbow Warrior, to check whether members of the ship's crew violated regulations and laws governing foreigners.
Rainbow Warrior has 12 crew members, 10 of whom are foreigners, and has 15 guests on board.
Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas said that "if needed," the city government will initiate a complaint before the BID.
"They can say their piece but there is a limit to what foreigners can do in other countries. They should go to the US where there are more coal plants than in any other place in the world," said Treñas in a telephone interview.