BY PRINCE GOLEZ, Manila Reporter and GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
MANILA – The government will verify the status of the 2006 massive oil spill in Guimaras.
“We will find out what had been done and what’s going on,” said Presidential Communication Operations Office secretary Herminio Coloma Jr.
Yesterday, Guimaras marked the eighth anniversary of the oil spill – the worse environmental disaster to hit the country.
Some 900 claimants were demanding compensation.
The sinking of “M/T Solar I” on Aug. 11, 2006 released about 500,000 liters of oil on the shores of Guimaras.
A University of the Philippines Visayas – Institute of Aquaculture study reported that the spills affected 439.6 hectares of mangroves, 58 hectares of seaweed farm and 367.3 hectares of fishponds.
Earlier, the municipality of Nueva Valencia, Guimaras sent a letter to President Aquino III, urging him to instruct the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) “to provide full and unconditional support and assistance in terms of evidence to be used in the expeditious prosecution” of cases filed against the owners / operators of the sunken ship.
The cases were for violation of the Maritime Pollution Decree, Presidential Decree No. 979 and Clean Water Act.
Sunshine Maritime Development Corp. (SMDC) owned the oil tanker. It was transporting the bunker fuel owned by Petron Corp.
Mayor Emmanuel Galila lamented that some affected individuals only received compensation that ranged from P5,000 to P20,000.
It was not “enough to pay for a month’s supply of rice and fish for their families,” added Galila.
In 2009, three years after the tragedy, at least 900 claimants charged the International Oil Pollution Compensation, Petron Corp. and the owner of “M/T Solar I”, seeking compensation equivalent to two years.
Elena Gemma Peñaflorida, president of the Kalikasan Ingatan Dagat Linisan Abuso Tigilan (KIDLAT) sa Guimaras – a group of Guimarasnons affected by the oil spill – said they are not giving up their claims.
“We are calling on the government to help us. We are calling on Petron and the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund (IOPCF) to hear us and grant our claims,” said Peñaflorida.
They claims reached P300 million.
Peñaflorida said fishermen still complain of poor fish catch eight years after the oil spill./PN
