Ship owners told to pay P41.7 M for damage to mangroves

MANILA, Philippines - The owners of the sunken MV St. Thomas Aquinas and MV Sulpicio Express Siete would have to pay P41.7 million for the damage to 328 hectares of mangroves caused by the collision of the two ships off Lawis Ledge in Cebu last Aug. 16.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Undersecretary for policy and planning Demetrio Ignacio said the amount was determined by the DENR Region 7.

The DENR Region 7 already sent a demand letter to 2GO Group Inc., owner of Thomas Aquinas, and Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corp., owner of Sulpicio Express, urging the companies to pay the amount by Nov.15.

DENR Central Visayas executive director Isabelo Montejo warned that if the two shipping firms would ignore the demand letter, the DENR would file charges against the ship owners in court.

“We are demanding such amount to the owners as we would like to proceed with providing alternative livelihood options to those people’s organizations who have been affected by the incident and carefully draw out reconstruction programs like rehabilitation and reforestation efforts,” Montejo said in a statement.

The demand letter of DENR Region 7 signed by Montejo noted that P5,935,000 worth of mangroves planted between 2009 to 2012 were destroyed, while the amount of fish lost in a year for every hectare of mangroves destroyed was P35,769,600.

“A hectare of mangrove produces up to 3.6 tons of litter fall per year per hectare, thus providing a lot of food for marine life. Also, in every hectare of mangrove destroyed, some 1.08 tons of fish per year per hectare will be lost,” DENR Region 7 spokesman Ed Llamedo explained.

The collision also resulted in an oil spill that affected Cordova town and Lapu-Lapu City. Local officials declared a state of calamity over the entire province. – With Evelyn Macairan, Marigold Lebumfacil/Freeman