COMMUNITY EFFORT | Residents of the coastal village of Navotas in Calapan City in Oriental Mindoro province work together on March 15, 2023, to make improvised oil spill booms to protect their shores from the oil spill coming from a fuel tanker that sank off Naujan town on Feb. 28. (Photo by NERI MAGBANUA / Contributor)
CITY OF CALAPAN, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines 鈥� Officials and residents here have doubled their efforts to protect their coastal communities as the threat of more spilled industrial oil reaching its shores loomed with the end of the 鈥渁mihan鈥� or the northeast monsoon.
Traces of oil spill from MT Princess Empress, which carried 800,000 liters of industrial fuel when sank off the town of Naujan in Oriental Mindoro on Feb. 28, reached this provincial capital on Thursday, with city workers, residents, and (PCG) personnel immediately mobilized to clean up the waters.
But efforts to ward it off became more urgent after the (UP-MSI) warned in a bulletin on Saturday night that more oil spill was expected to reach this city鈥檚 shores in three days.
鈥淥il spill trajectories for March 16 to [March] 22 show a northward shift with Calapan possibly receiving most of the oil from March 20 to [March] 22,鈥� said the bulletin.
鈥楳ore pronounced鈥�
The UP-MSI said the latest satellite image on March 15 showed that the oil was 鈥渟till leaking out of the sunken vessel (MT Princess Empress).鈥�
Calapan, some 23 kilometers from where the oil tanker sank, was the latest locality affected by the oil spill that had so far damaged the waters and coastal resources of 10 towns in Oriental Mindoro, affecting the livelihood of nearly 30,000 residents.
The spill has also reached the shores of Caluya town in Antique province, where some P4 million worth of farmed seaweeds were damaged; and the waters of Palawan.
The UP-MSI also warned that the westward direction of current along the coast of northern Mindoro leading to the Verde Island Passage, the marine resource-rich corridor between Mindoro Island and Batangas, became 鈥渕ore pronounced for this period.鈥�
The institute said stopping the seepage of oil from the tanker should be a priority 鈥渂efore the end of the amihan season, otherwise more critical biodiversity areas along the Verde Island Passage may be affected.鈥�
PCG Commodore Geronimo Tuvilla, head of the Incident Management Team in Oriental Mindoro, told local officials in a meeting here on Saturday that the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that would help locate the oil tanker, estimated to have sunk at a depth of 400 meters, was expected to arrive on March 20. The ROV would be accompanied by its Japanese operators, he said.
Proactive mode
Calapan Mayor Malou Morillo, in a social media post on Sunday, said they had been on a proactive mode by employing various ways to prevent the oil spill from causing more damage to their coastal areas.
Morillo said they had been mobilizing communities and partner agencies in producing more improvised spill booms made from rice straws, ropes, empty plastic bottles, and sacks to protect the city鈥檚 waters.
City Health Officer Dr. Basilisa Llanto advised residents in affected areas to wear protective N95 masks, especially those with respiratory conditions to avoid inhaling the toxic chemical fumes of the oil.
The city has also procured personal protective equipment, gloves, and protective boots that would be used by government workers and volunteers involved in the cleanup work.
Local gas stations and depots were also asked to donate drums and barrels where the collected oil clamps would be stored.
While the oil spill was not yet severe, the city government advised residents to be careful in buying fish and check them thoroughly for traces or the scent of oil.
Morillo, in a televised program on Sunday, said local fishers who have trouble selling their catch could 鈥渂ring them to the city hall and we will buy them.鈥�
She assured food packs had been readied for distribution to families whose livelihood would be affected by the spill.
Recovery in sight
In Antique, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) was optimistic the seaweed industry in Caluyan town would recover soon.
BFAR-Western Visayas Director Remia Aparri said most of the oil in the waters surrounding Barangays Semirara, Sibolo, and Tinogboc has been cleaned up, with some 50 drums of oil collected from Tinogboc and Sibolo.
As of March 7, damage sustained by 73 fishers and seaweed growers in Caluya has reached P4,080,500, he said.
He stressed it was still unsafe to consume fish from oil spill-affected areas.
Caluya Mayor Rigil Kent Lim, on March 4, temporarily banned fishing activities in the town鈥檚 waters until further notice. Fishers have to wait for the BFAR鈥檚 advisory when it would be safe to go fishing again, Apparri said.
Environmental groups have been urging the government to initiate legal action that would compel the tanker鈥檚 owner, RDC Reield Marine Services Inc., to pay not just for the cleanup but for the damage it caused to affected communities.
No assurance
However, Sen. Cynthia Villar on Sunday doubted if RDC would be able to collect its $1-billion insurance for the sunken vessel to compensate fishermen and residents affected by the oil spill since MT Princess Empress had no certificate of public convenience (CPC) from the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina).
鈥淲ill the insurance company pay you if you did not have a permit to operate?鈥� Villar asked.
Villar, who spearheaded the Senate inquiry into the Feb. 28 sea tragedy, said RDC is a 鈥渟mall company鈥� that might go bankrupt due to the massive oil spill.
鈥淓ven if they give up all the assets of their company, that will not be enough for the damages this has caused,鈥� she said in a radio interview.
According to Villar, she got an 鈥渋nformal鈥� report supposedly from Marina, which showed that MT Princess Empress was manufactured by a small shipyard in Bataan province that has no capability to build an oil tanker.
She questioned the authenticity of the sunken ship鈥檚 CPC that the PCG had shared with the media last week, adding: 鈥淚 spoke to Marina and they confirmed that the ship had no permit.鈥�
She said the about 30,000 affected fishermen would have to find another way to earn a living for the next six months, as various state agencies were still trying to contain the oil spill.