40,000 Guimaras residents affected by oil spill

Guimaras Governor Joaquin Nava said some 40,000 people have been affected by the oil spill off the central Philippines island-province, and expressed frustration at the lack of commitment from the national government and Petron Corp., which contracted the ill-fated tanker, to halt the oil spill. Nava, in a joint press conference with environment advocacy group Greenpeace at the Taklong marine reserve, said the Guimaras oil spill is considered the worst such incident in Philippine history, killing off marine ecosystems and seriously affecting the people's livelihood. A Greenpeace campaigner further expressed fear that the worst may yet if the remaining 1.9 million litres of oil in the sunken tanker leaks out to sea. “We reiterate our demand for Petron to immediately raise the ship out of the seabed or pump out the remaining oil from its tanks. Unless this is quickly dealt with, there looms the prospect of a bigger catastrophe," said Von Hernandez, campaign director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia. The MT Solar sank last August 11 off Guimaras, due to turbulent seas brought about by the monsoon season. It was carrying 2.1 million liters of oil. Petron hired the tanker to ferry the oil from Bataan province in Luzon to Zamboanga del Sur in Mindanao. Petron is the country’s largest oil refiner. It is run by a Saudi Aramco unit, which holds a 40 percent stake. The government maintains a 40 percent share. Hernandez added that relief operations must continue to help the scores of thousands of affected Guimaras residents and that Petron must also compensate villages for loss of their livelihood. “It appears now that Petron is just making them janitors for the oil spill," Hernandez said. Greenpeace also urged the Philippine government to conduct a wider impacts assessment work, which must include all affected areas in Guimaras, and the nearby provinces of Iloilo and Negros Occidental. “The impact of this oil spill on the environment will linger for years, even decades. The government must learn from this disaster and put in place policies that protect the marine environment and millions of Filipinos who rely on them for food and livelihood," said Hernandez. The crew from the Greenpeace ship MY Esperanza and marine experts from the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) on Monday set up booms at the most critical areas in Taklong marine reserve, which is highly threatened by the oil spill. The booms, made of bamboo, rice straw and sacks, were made by UPV to serve as a prototype for communities who plan to use indigenous and biodegradable materials to stem the tide of oil slick from their coasts. Equipment for oil spill clean-up, boots and gloves were also donated to officials managing the marine reserve. -GMANews.TV