21 February 2019, Manila, Philippines – Next week, environmental organization Greenpeace Philippines will be opening its most iconic ship, the Rainbow Warrior, to the public. The Rainbow Warrior is coming back to the Philippines for the Ship the Plastic Back tour to campaign against plastic pollution and rally the Filipinos as we move to #breakfreefromplastic!
The first stop of the iconic ship is the famous and controversial Manila Bay. On March 2 and 3 at the Port of Manila, Greenpeace will open the ship to the public for a chance to see Manila Bay after the government-led clean-ups for its planned rehabilitation. It will then sail to Cebu for another round of open boat on March 15 and 16 at Port of Cebu, as the province highlights its initiatives towards becoming a leader in fighting plastic pollution in the Philippines.
The Rainbow Warrior’s Ship the Plastic Back tour is part of a global campaign that targets companies that produce massive amounts of single-use plastic that pollute the world’s oceans. The Philippines is constantly named as one of the top polluters of plastics in the ocean, among other Asian countries. Hence, the plastic campaign aims to significantly contribute to minimizing the proliferation of plastics in the country.
Greenpeace aims to highlight the responsibility of corporations whose production of plastic packaging has contributed greatly to the pollution of Manila Bay and other water bodies in the Philippines. Greenpeace is demanding that corporations reduce their single-use plastic packaging production and explore alternative systems of delivering their products to consumers.
“The ongoing Manila Bay rehabilitation has put a spotlight on how we Filipinos are doing our part to clean our country. The clean-up has produced picture-perfect results, as we have seen on social media, but we have to remember that trash will always find its way to Manila Bay if we don’t address plastic pollution at source,” said Abigail Aguilar, campaigner of Greenpeace Southeast Asia – Philippines.
Greenpeace is inviting the public to see Manila Bay from the point of view of the world’s first purpose-built environmental campaigning ship. The open boat events are free to all visitors, but interested parties must pre-register on the organization’s Eventbrite page: shipitback.eventbrite.com. For more information, visit Greenpeace Philippines Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.
Media Contact:
Angelica Carballo Pago, Media Campaigner, Greenpeace Southeast Asia – Philippines
Email: [email protected] | Mobile: +63 949 889 1332
Katrina Eusebio, Communications Support Officer, Greenpeace Southeast Asia – Philippines
Email: [email protected] | Mobile: +63 999 229 6451
