No fishing ban in Palawan despite oil spill sightings — PDRRMO

Fishing activities in Palawan are not yet suspended even as the oil spill from a sunken motor tanker in Oriental Mindoro has reached the province, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) said Monday.

In a public briefing, Palawan PDRRMO head Jerry Alili explained that the oil slick sighted in several areas in Palawan are not significant and were already contained. 

“Sa ngayon, wala pang pinatutupad na fishing ban dahil nga sa ‘yung volume na nakita natin ay hindi ganon ka-significant,” he said.

(So far, no fishing ban has been raised because the volume of oil spill that we have seen is not that significant.)

He said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has, however, conducted a testing to determine the water quality in affected areas.

As of Friday, the effects of the oil spill from sunken motor tanker Princess Empress was seen in Barangay Casian in Taytay, Palawan — a town 159 nautical miles or 295 kilometers away from Naujan.

Alili said that 100 to 150 liters of oil were collected on the shores of Caluag.

Several municipalities have also made improvised oil spill booms to be placed in production areas and in nearby tourist destinations to avoid further damage.

In Oriental Mindoro, fishing in areas affected by an oil spill has been prohibited due to possible water toxification.

Due to this, almost half of the residents in the concerned towns were affected as fishing was their only source of livelihood, according to Oriental Mindoro Governor Humerlito Dolor.—AOL, GMA Integrated News