Galvez: US committed to help in oil spill cleanup

Defense chief Carlito Galvez said Tuesday that the United States government has committed to help in the cleanup efforts on the oil spill in Oriental Mindoro.

Galvez reported to President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. that US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin already promised to deploy naval units to assist in the cleanup operation in the area.

“I had a phone call last night with Sec. Austin at 7:45 p.m., they are committed to help in coordination with Japan and other countries,” Galvez said.

“In fact, as I've recommended, some of the exercise scenarios of the forthcoming ‘Balikatan’ exercises will be ‘real life’ and actual HADR (Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response) operations relative to the oil spill,” Galvez said.

He added that Austin has assured the Philippine government that their HADR team is "now on their way to help and provide assistance in managing the oil spill.”

Galvez said the Philippine government would also continue to seek the expertise and technical support of other partner countries, such as France and the United Kingdom, in containing the oil spill.

Galvez also reported to the President that personnel from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) had given a briefing on the foreigners who extended assistance to the government in the ongoing cleanup operations in the province.

MT Princess Empress was carrying around 900,000 liters of industrial fuel oil when it sank due to strong waves on February 28. According to the PCG, the motor tanker sank 400 meters into the ocean, which was too deep for divers to reach.

On Tuesday, Oriental Mindoro Governor Humerlito Dolor announced that MT Princess Empress was found through the survey of the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) from Japan.

The PCG, meanwhile, said it has collected 6,803 liters of oily water mixture and 65 sacks of oil-contaminated materials during its offshore response operations for the oil spill. —VAL, GMA Integrated News.