Oil extraction from Solar I starts March

The International Oil Pollution Compensation will begin siphoning the remaining oil from a sunken motor tanker off Guimaras next month, a top official of the National Disaster Coordinating Council said Wednesday. In a press briefing, NDCC executive officer and Office of the Civil Defense administrator Glenn Rabonza said the operations would start next month and will likely last for less than a month. “That was the window where there will be calmer weather and we don't expect typhoons…The tentative date is March 8," said Rabonza, explaining why authorities chose the specific period in siphoning the oil. Rabonza, however, could not say which firm had been commissioned by the IOPC to siphon the oil from M/T Solar 1 that sank off Guimaras last August, damaging the corals and causing the lost of livelihood among the residents. “I don’t know the name of the company (hired by IOPC)…It is the International Oil Pollution Compensation fund people who are paying for the operations," said Rabonza, adding he does not know how much the operations will cost. Last year, then Defense Secretary and NDCC chairman Avelino Cruz said the siphoning could cost at least $8 million to $10 million. Cruz also said that entire siphoning process could take up at least 30 to 45 days. “We were told that this (siphoning) will take about less than a month," Rabonza said.- GMANews.TV