Bataan village blames fish kill on oil leak from defunct power plant

LIMAY, Bataan - Bunker oil supposedly coming from the defunct Bataan Thermal Power Plant (BTPP) is suspected to have killed off fish in Limay town along Manila Bay on Wednesday.

Fishermen and residents reportedly found many small fish dead and floating in the sea near Kitang III in Barangay Luz-Kitang II. The village sits adjacent to the BTPP.

They pointed to traces of oil at the mouth of a big pipe that they said leads to the compound of the closed and non-operational thermal plant. The pipe empties into a canal that goes to the sea.

“Tiyak sa planta galing ang langis,” barangay chairman Oscar Peralta of Luz-Kitang II said, adding that he went to the area to check on the problem himself.

He said fishermen have told him that their livelihood has been affected by the oil spill.

“Ang lambat nila, nadidikitan daw ng aspalto at nagkakamatay ang mga isda. Sana matulungan ang maliliit na magdaragat para makapangisda sila ng maayos,” Peralta said.

The village head said fishermen fear that the fish they catch might have ingested toxins and are no longer safe to eat.

“Saan  sila kukuha ng ikabubuhay ngayon?,” he said of 200 fisher families in his village.

Village councilman Francis Abelojar, chairman of the committee on agriculture and fisheries, said they saw many dead fish floating. They collected some fish and oil samples for the municipal agriculture office to test.

“Nananawagan kami sa concerned government agency na bigyan kami ng karapatan na makapasok sa planta ng National Power Corporation upang matukoy kung anong kemikal ang dumadaloy at malaman kung may toxin ito,” Abelojar said.

“Nag-aalaala ang mga mangingisda na baka may lason ang isdang mahuli nila at makain,” the kagawad said.

A team from the Philippine Coast Guard in Lamao, Limay tried to persuade security guards to let them enter the compound of the power plant to see the source of the oil spill but were denied access.

“Kahit kami hindi makapasok diyan kaya hindi namin alam kung ano nangyayari sa loob,” the barangay chairman said.

Villager Marcelino Ebnace collected some floating fish. “Inihaw ko para ipakain sa aso ko ngunit ayaw kainin,” he said.

He said that this is the first time that fish kill has hit the fishing village.

“Hindi ko alam kung ano talaga dahilan ng pagkamatay ng mga isda pero malamang dahil sa langis,” Ebnace said.

“Dati steam o mainit na tubig ang umaagos sa imburnal na ‘yan pero ngayon langis na,” resident Rogelio Aguas said.

Maria Rosas, another villager, was worried about their livelihood. “Nanghuhuli kami ng alimasag diyan kaya lang baka may lason na. Sana hindi na maulit ang ganyan at matulungan kami sa problema,” the woman, who depends on fishing to rear her six children, said. — EE/JDS, GMA News