March vs coal in Cebu reminds execs of measure vs dirty fuel
SOME of the march participants walk to Cebu City to remind incoming members of the city council to stand by a resolution rejecting a proposed coal power plant in a village in the city. LITO TECSON/CEBU DAILY NEWS
CEBU CITY—At least 200 advocates of green energy joined a protest march, dubbed #BreakFree Cebu Climate Walk, in their continuing call to stop the building of more coal-fired power plants in the country.
The walk, which began at 6 a.m., started outside the gates of the Korean Electric Co. where hundreds of members of local environment and youth groups joined them.
The group walked despite the downpour, said Dann Diez, of Seed4Com or Sustainable Energy and Enterprise Development for Communities.
Diez told the Inquirer that the group started with 13 protesters and the number grew as other groups joined them along the way.
The protesters walked 23.5 kilometers from Naga City to Cebu City, carrying placards and wearing shirts with buttons with this message printed on them: “No to Coal, Quit Coal.”
An ambulance from University of San Jose Recoletos was on standby to provide water and medical assistance to the protesters.
Naderev “Yeb” Saño, executive director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, told reporters when the marchers reached Cebu City Hall that his group continued to be vigilant and on the lookout for the possible revival of plans to build a coal power plant in the village of Sawang Calero in Cebu City.
“We will never be complacent. We continue to lobby against the coal industry. We will not rest until coal projects are stopped,” he said.
Saño said green energy advocates hoped to draw the sincere commitment of incoming city officials against coal-fired power plants.
The current city council has rejected the proposal of Ludo Power Corp. to build a
300-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Sawang Calero last month.
Joy Tumulak, Cebu City Traffic Operations chief, said his office offered vehicles to ferry protesters who were too exhausted to continue walking.
