Group urges Iloilo fishermen to sue Napocor for oil leak

MANILA, Philippines - A fisherfolk group on Firday urged  small fishermen and their families in Northern Iloilo to file criminal and other appropriate charges against the state-run National Power Corp. for its slow and inadequate response to an oil spill caused by super typhoon Yolanda. 

In a press statement, Pamalakaya said the small fisherfolk and their families are suffering from the double whammy  catastrophe -- Yolanda and the oil spill in Estancia.

Pamalakaya vice chairperson Salvador France said the travails of fishermen and coastal families were further compounded and complicated by the knee jerk response of the national government to the humanitarian disaster in Northern Iloilo and adjacent coastal areas in Aklan, Capiz and Antique.

"We strongly urge our fisherfolk peers in Northern Iloilo victimized by state neglect and government abandonment and the rest of Yolanda affected areas in Panay and Guimaras to rise above the occasion and demand justice and proper compensation for the crimes and mindful neglect of the Aquino government," France said.

Pamalakaya said more than 3,000 fishermen and their families have been affected by the oil spill.

The oil spill has been caused by a leak from the Napocor’s Power Barge 103 which wound up to 300 kph detached from its moorings and slammed into the village’s rocky shores.

The Philippine Coast Guard estimated that at least 200,000 liters of bunker fuel had spilled but an initial report of the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team placed the volume at 600,000 liters.

The 35-megawatt barge has a fuel storage capacity of 1.4 million liters.