{"id":428,"date":"2015-06-12T08:34:17","date_gmt":"2015-06-12T08:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.350.org\/philippines\/?p=428"},"modified":"2017-02-28T08:35:35","modified_gmt":"2017-02-28T08:35:35","slug":"let-a-million-climate-actions-bloom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.350.org\/philippines\/let-a-million-climate-actions-bloom\/","title":{"rendered":"Let a million climate actions bloom"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Chuck Baclagon<\/p>\n

In the past week there has been a ferment of opposition against dirty energy across the Philippine archipelago as communities, organisations and the Catholic church step up their campaigns against coal. \u00a0<\/b>Following news of the Norwegian parliament\u2019s formal endorsement of divesting\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0its $900 Billion sovereign wealth fund, that will cut\u00a0funding for\u00a0the Philippines’\u00a0top dirty energy producers including: Semirara Mining Corporation, Aboitiz Power Corporation, DMCI Holdings Incorporated and Manila Electric Company.<\/span><\/p>\n

Atimonan townsfolk cry: No to coal!<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n\"Church\n

Atimonan, Quezon: More than 1,500 protesters, led by Church leaders, staged a procession in Atimonan, Quezon province to dramatize opposition to the proposed 1,200-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in the town that faces the Pacific Ocean, some 173 kilometers south of Manila.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Dubbed as \u201cLakad-Dasal-Bibliya para sa Kalikasan,\u201d(Walk-Pray-Bible), the procession first went around town before stopping in front of the municipal hall for a short program. The marchers proceeded to the town\u2019s Our Lady of the Angels Parish Church grounds for an overnight vigil and were joined be a delegation of activists from organizations such as Greenpeace Philippines, Philippine Movement for Climate Justice\u00a0 <\/span>(PMCJ)\u00a0 <\/span>and 350.org.<\/span><\/p>\n

1 Million for Renewable Energy<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n\"Representatives\n

Quezon City, Metro Manila: Representatives from the Catholic Church,\u00a0 <\/span>civil society organizations and local communities banded together to launch a National Petition for Renewable Energy,\u00a0 <\/span>to gather one million signatures to urge the government to move away from a fossil-fuel driven power industry towards a more sustainable, community-based, democratic renewable energy system.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

This effort was led by the Power for People Network<\/a> which expressed distress over the approval of 59 coal plants and 118 coal mining permits, with 15 more coal plants in the pipeline, which would lead to further coal dependence, as it will comprise 80 to 90% of the overall power mix in the Philippines.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Catholic Bishop\u2019s Conference of the Philippines-National Secretariat for Social Action (CBCP-NASSA), PMCJ 350.org<\/span><\/a> and Palawan Alliance for Clean Energy (PACE) were among the organizations present in the launch of the petition.<\/p>\n

Dismantling DMCI\u2019s stranglehold on the Philippine Environment<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n\"Environmental\n

Makati City, Metro Manila: To commemorate World Environment Day, environmental activists under the Kalikasan People\u2019s Network for the Environment held a picket protest outside the office of DMCI Holdings denouncing its various environmental crimes and human rights violations in several biodiversity areas in the Philippines.<\/span><\/p>\n

The protest action was meant to call for an independent investigation to look into the outstanding risks and negative impacts to the people and the environment by DMCI\u2019s various operations.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n