OCD calls for enhanced disaster preparedness

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A YEAR after a massive oil spill caused by the sinking of an oil tanker in Oriental Mindoro, the Office of Civil Defense acknowledged the need to enhance preparedness to minimize the impact of similar incidents in the future.

“It has been a year since the oil spill incident happened in Mindoro. Though it took us time, still we were able to surmount all the challenges that we encountered because of inter-agency and multisector action,” Ariel Nepomuceno, administrator of the Office of Civil Defense and concurrent executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), said in statement last Saturday, three days after the first anniversary of the tragedy involving MT Princess Empress.

“Though we hope that it will not happen again, the incident calls on us to strengthen our preparedness and response so that we can minimize the negative impacts of such incident,” added Nepomuceno.

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MT Princess Empress was transporting some 800,000 litters of industrial fuel oil to Iloilo, from Bataan in February last year when it experienced engine trouble and sank off Naujan in Oriental Mindoro.

Data from the NDRRMC showed the disaster affected 43,699 families or 200,244 individuals in Mimaropa, Calabarzon and Western Visayas and caused P4.92 billion in damage to agriculture.

The government has extended P790.23 million in assistance to those affected by the oil spill in the three regions.

“We are pleased that it is done now. However, we cannot set aside the huge cost of damage, the environmental and health impacts that the incident caused,” said Nepomuceno.

“By acknowledging these, better preparedness and response are needed both from the government side and the companies” he also said.

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