MANILA, Philippines – Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior arrived in Manila on Wednesday, February 14, kicking off its climate justice tour in Southeast Asia.

“The focus on this tour is on climate justice, to reclaim our lives to a stable climate and safe environment for all. We are here to claim our lives for clean air, clean water, safe food, and healthy environment,” said Hettie Geenen, ship captain of Rainbow Warrior.

According to Greenpeace, the ship will highlight during its Manila leg the power of the people who are reclaiming their rights to safe and ecologically sourced food, rights to resilient and thriving oceans, and to witness how the people are taking their power back by telling stories of survival and hope.

In Guimaras, the focus will be on a future powered by renewable energy, and the capability to move away from coal.

In Tacloban, one of the cities badly hit by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), the ship will highlight how the local Waray-Waray are reclaiming their lives and telling their stories to hold big polluters accountable.

“The message of the Rainbow Warrior’s visit here in the Philippines is to highlight the issue of climate justice,” said Naderev Saño, executive director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia.

He added: “Climate change is definitely an issue of justice, where those who are least responsible for this problem are the ones who are feeling the brunt of its impacts and this is what we want to highlight with the visit of the Rainbow Warrior here in the Philippines.”

Saño said that during this climate justice tour, Greenpeace hopes to engage communities to use the ship as a platform to “amplify the voices of ordinary people who are experiencing climate impacts.”

The Rainbow Warrior will be in the Philippines from February 14 to March 5, visiting Manila, Guimaras, and Tacloban before sailing to other countries in Southeast Asia.

The ship that arrived in the Philippines is already Greenpeace’s 3rd flagship. French agents sank the original Rainbow Warrior ship in Auckland harbor in 1985 as it prepared to lead anti-nuclear protests, while the second Rainbow Warrior was retired in 2011. – with a report from Agence France-Presse / Rappler.com