SOME 189 individuals, including children, have fallen ill while nearly 150,000 others have been affected by the oil spill caused by the sinking of MT Princess Empress last February 28 off Oriental Mindoro.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said those who experienced illness are all from Pola town where the sunken ship was located after it sank in the nearby town of Naujan.
In a situational report, the NDRRMC said the victims suffered difficulty in breathing, headaches, cough, colds, fever, sore throat, diarrhea, vomiting, and skin rashes, among others.
Citing information from the Pola municipal health office, NDRRMC said 16 have recovered while the rest are still being monitored.
NDRRMC also reported that 32,269 families or 149,503 individuals have been affected by the oil spill.
Oriental Mindoro had the highest number of affected persons, with 20,540 families or 102,567 individuals from 119 barangays in nine municipalities falling ill.
Antique reported 8,387 families or 30,226 individuals from four barangays in four municipalities who have fallen ill.
There were 3,342 families or 16,710 individuals from eight barangays in two municipalities who were likewise affected in Palawan, NDRRMC said.
The agency said P58.02 million worth of assistance have been provided to those affected, including food packs worth P18.78 million and P29.09 million in cash aid.
The cost of damage to the fishery sector was pegged at P3.85 million in Caluya, Antique alone. Negros Oriental officials earlier said they were still determining the extent of the oil spill’s damage to the province.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and other agencies continue to exert efforts to address the oil slick, which has reached the town of Calapan in Oriental Mindoro.
Calapan local officials declared a fishing ban after finding out the oil slick has reached the town but lifted the ban last Saturday after experts established that fish in the area have not been affected yet.
PCG said some 35 bags of oil tarballs were collected in Calapan in a coastal clean-up operation. In coordination with other agencies, PCG said it has also installed a 100-meter oil-spill boom in the area.
Last Saturday, the PCG said it collected 6,803 liters of oily water mixture and 65 sacks of oil-contaminated materials during its offshore oil spill response operations in affected areas from March 1 to 17.
The PCG said a total of 1,726 sacks and 22 drums of waste were collected in the towns of Naujan, Bulalacao, and Pola in Oriental Mindoro during the same period.
OIL SPREADING
The University of the Philippines-Marine Science Institute (UP-MSI) said more oil leaking from the sunken tanker is expected to reach the shores of Calapan City in three days.
“The latest satellite image on March 15 shows that oil is still leaking out of the sunken vessel. Oil spill trajectories for March 16 to 22 show a northward shift, with Calapan possibly receiving most of the oil from March 20 to 22,” a bulletin issued by UP-MSI said late Saturday night.
It added that the westward currents along the coast of northern Mindoro towards the Verde Island Passage are expected to be more pronounced during the same period.
“The Amihan winds, which contained most of the oil to the coasts of Nauhan and Pola in the previous weeks, are now more variable, allowing the oil to spread northwards,” the UP-MSI said.
It said that authorities should prioritize stopping the oil seepage before the end of the Amihan period to prevent it from spreading further.
“It is critical to stop the seepage before the end of the Amihan season, otherwise more critical biodiversity areas along the Verde Island Passage may be affected. We need continuous monitoring along the coasts for the presence of oil to inform the models,” it said.
The UP-MSI also encouraged the public to contribute geotagged images using a GPS camera app so that coordinates can be used as starting locations for the oil in new model forecasts.
“Please submit these geotagged images through this form: https://bit.ly/MTPE_GPS,” it added.
The oil spill threatens the ecosystem and coastal communities in southern Luzon as well as the livelihood of fishermen in affected areas.
MORE AREAS AFFECTED
Eleven more coastal barangays have been affected by the oil spill, raising the total to 131, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) revealed yesterday.
A report by the DSWD-Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information Center showed that a total of 32,269 families or 149,503 persons from 131 barangays in Regions IV-B (Mimaropa) and VI- (Western Visayas) have been affected.
Of the affected barangays, 119 are in Oriental Mindoro, eight in Palawan and four in Antique.
A total of P25 million worth of assistance has been provided to the affected families, including P23 million from the DSWD, P444,039 from the LGUs, P464,940 from non-government organizations (NGOs), and P801,066.08 from other private partners.
As of March 18, the DSWD has distributed 82,609 family food packs in Oriental Mindoro, including 23,180 to fishermen, while 5,685 beneficiaries in Oriental Mindoro and Palawan were provided financial assistance through Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) amounting to a total of P17.109 million.
A total of 1,101 people from Pola and Bulalacao in Oriental Mindoro also received their wages for five days of work under the cash for work program or a total of P1.954 million.
The DSWD said it still has P2.056 billion worth of funds (P750.9 million) and stockpiles of food and non-food relief items (P1.3 billion) on standby and ready for distribution.
VILLAR STANDS GROUND
Sen. Cynthia Villar yesterday reiterated that the ill-fated MT Princess Empress had no authority to operate even as the PCG showed documents stating otherwise.
In a radio interview, Villar said her basis for saying that MT Princess Empress had no permit to operate was a written report given to her by the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) after the vessel sank last February 28.
“It’s a written report. So, after I read it, I called Marina to ask if this is real. They (Marina) admitted it was true. It’s a written report, not verbal,” Villar said.
The Senate Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Climate Change led by Villar conducted its first hearing on the sinking of MT Princess Empress last Tuesday.
During that hearing, Villar said that RDC Reield Marine Services (RDC), the owner of MT Princess Empress, has a certificate of public convenience (CPC) but the ill-fated tanker has yet to be issued a permit to operate since it has not yet been included in the company’s amended CPC.
RDC Vice President Fritzie Tee admitted during the hearing that the tanker has not yet been issued an authority to operate as the company applied amendments to its CPC only last November and started to submit the documentary requirements only last December.
Hernani Fabia, Marina administrator, said RDC has yet to complete its papers in the amendments to its CPC. He added the company was not issued a special permit to operate or a temporary permit to operate because the company did not apply for one.
Later that day, however, the PCG posted on its Twitter account documents showing that RDC has a CPC, which included the MT Princess Empress on its supposed amended CPC.
PCG spokesman Rear Adm. Armand Balilo said their personnel checked the boat before it left Bataan, adding: “As far as we are concerned, they submitted to us (a CPC). Whether that’s valid or if they made a misrepresentation, we are looking into that.”
Villar said it would be unclear how RDC got a permit for MT Princess Empress to sail without proper authorities issuing one.
“How can it have a permit to operate if Marina will not it grant it? Marina is the one issuing permits to operate. Why will the coast guard say that RDC has a permit to operate. Maybe it’s fake,” Villar said, adding she will schedule another hearing after the Holy Week.
She said she also saw a coast guard report showing a lot of “missing” items in its checklist regarding the MT Princess Empress.
“I have seen a written report from the coast guard that showed there were many missing items. It was written in that coast guard report. They should be making excuses and that they should be talking with each other. If there were lapses, just admit that they erred,” Villar said.
“It was confirmed by Marina that it really has no permit. The company has a permit but each time you add a ship to your fleet, you have to get a permit for that particular ship. MT Princess Empress started to sail in 2022 even without the permit to operate. The company has a permit to operate but that particular vessel which sank has none. They should get a permit for that,” she added.
She said she also received an “informal report” that the ill-fated ship was built in Bataan by a small company that authorities said was not capable of building an oil tanker.
Villar said she did not disclose this information during the committee hearing since it has yet to be backed with evidence.
She said there was also an informal report the ship was overloaded since its capacity was only 800,000 liters but actually carried 900,000 liters.
She said RDC is also accountable for the oil spill but doubts if it can compensate all those affected
“The problem is it (RDC) is a small company and even if it gives all its assets, that will not be enough. It will need billions of pesos because there are thousands of fishermen affected, and it will have to pay them for at least six months. Then the damage to the coral reefs, tourism, and other others. It will need a lot of money and I think they cannot afford it; the company will go bankrupt),” she said.
She said the $1 billion insurance claim of RDC may not be granted since MT Princess Empress has no legal documents to operate. — With Ashzel Hachero, Jocelyn Montemayor, and Raymond Africa
