LUCENA CITY, Quezon, Philippines – The environmental group Greenpeace’s flagship, Rainbow Warrior, has no permit and no authority to dock at the pier of a power plant in Pagbilao, Quezon, the commander of the Philippine Coast Guard here said Saturday.

“The area where the Greenpeace vessel is docked is a restricted area and the vessel poses a hazard to navigation and obstruction to vessels entering and leaving the plant,” Lt. Cmdr Hostillo E. Cornelio told the Inquirer in a telephone interview.

Cornelio said that when the ship left the port of Legazpi City it was supposed to sail directly to Manila and not stop anywhere else.

He also warned that failure by Greenpeace to remove the ship from the premises will force them to make the necessary arrests and file cases against members of the crew.

“We’re trying to resolve this through diplomatic means. But if they continue violating the law, we will be forced to take action,” he said.

However, he declined to set a deadline for the ship to lift anchor and leave the area.

A spokesman for the besieged Team Energy Philippines’ coal-fired power plant in the coastal village of Ibabang Polo in Pagbilao, Quezon, assailed the ship captain of the Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior for alleged disrespect of the laws of the country.

According to Greggy Romualdez, during a dialogue between Greenpeace activists, Bureau of Customs and Bureau of Immigration officials aboard the ship on Friday afternoon, ship skipper Michael James Ian Fincken, admitted that he was aware that he was violating the law when he blocked the unloading of another ship’s coal cargo.

Romualdez quoted Fincken as saying “that is how we send out our message.”

Though he admitted that he was not present during the dialogue, Romualdez said the incident was relayed to him by the four plant officials who were in the meeting.

Jett Velasco, Bureau of Customs official who was supervising the unloading of coal from Medi Firenze and participated in the meeting, confirmed Romualdez report on the incident.

Velasco described Fincken as “fearless” during the dialogue.

“I told him that he was violating navigation laws when he blocked his ship against another sea vessel that is unloading cargoes,” Velasco said over the phone.

The Customs official also accused the skipper of Rainbow Warrior of violating laws when it dropped anchor in front of the plant. “Their papers show that when they left Bicol they were supposed to sail straight to Manila,” he said.

Velasco said he confiscated the certificate of ship registration and the Custom clearance issued in the port of Legazpi City.

The Inquirer tried to get the side of Fincken but he was asleep when this correspondent made the phone call.

Beau Baconguis, Greenpeace-Southeast Asia campaigner manager, who was on board the ship and a participant in the dialogue, said she could not recall Fincken making the purported statement.

“But if he really said that, it’s only because not all government laws are perfect. Sometimes, we have to take drastic actions for the greater good of the people,” she said.

But Romualdez insisted that Greenpeace should respect the lawful operations of legitimate business enterprises and more importantly the laws of the country.

“While we respect the advocacy of Greenpeace, we think it is not right for visitors to barge into our country and openly declare their contempt for our laws. Mr. Fincken's statement is an insult to our country and to all Filipinos,” he said.

“As much as preserving and protecting the environment is a worthy cause, those advocating it are by no means above the law,” he said.