Edibility of fish: BFAR to issue word next week

CEBU, Philippines - To determine if they are truly safe to eat, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) 7 has forwarded to the University of the Philippines – Cebu samples of fishes caught within the vicinity of the sunken M/V Thomas Aquinas.

Samples of sea cucumber and shells will also be forwarded to UP today for hydro-carbon examination. These are reportedly more prone to contamination especially during low tide because they are immobile.

Experts from the university are expected to release their findings next week. By this time, BFAR would be able to issue an official advisory to consumers and vendors, said Larson Tan, chief of BFAR’s Fisheries Post Harvest and Marketing Division.

In the meantime, Tan said consumers can take precaution by making sure the fish they buy from the market is fresh.

“Kay basin unya dubok, nahumol sa oil, unya naapil og kuha,” Tan said.

Meanwhile, BFAR has completed the Mangrove Nursery Project wherein fisher folk in Cordova town whose livelihood has been affected by the oil spill are given the chance to earn money by potting mangrove propagules.

“Mao ni among nakita nga immediate answer sa kalisod kay di man daw mahalin ilang isda bisan pa di contaminated,” said Alma Saavedra, also of BFAR.

BFAR is targeting 105,000 species of mangroves. Each household from affected barangays will be provided with 500 pieces of mangroves.

“Two pesos kada pot ang amoang ihatag sa mga fisherman, (They will earn P2 per pot)” Tan said.

BFAR is set to implement projects totaling P1.4 million for those affected by the spill. Part of which will be implemented next week wherein every household will be receiving P750 in cash.

“Magamit ni siya sa mga housewives ipalit og tempura, fishball, aron ipamaligya,” Tan said.

Ten households from the 11 barangays of the Municipality of Cordova are the recipients of the projects.

To make sure that the project won’t be abused by unscrupulous individuals, BFAR requires that recipients present a certification that they are registered in the barangay. They also should not be recipients of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) of the government. So they can avail of the three liters of gasoline from BFAR, their motorboats must not be registered with the local government.

Siphoning

Meanwhile, the siphoning process of the remaining oil from the ill-fated M/V Thomas Aquinas is set today together with the arrival of the special equipment from Japan that will be used for the operation.

“We have the divers and equipment ready since the special equipment from Japan will arrive here in Cebu,” 2GO AVP for Shipping Management Lito Salvio said, citing that the siphoning process will start immediately.

Salvio is also looking into the possibility of emptying the fuel in the tanker by the end of September.

As for the status of the clean-up, Salvio also announced that they already shifted from emergency phase clean-up to the normal clean-up.

Earlier, 2GO management hired Genetron International Marketing for the waste material treatment. The firm helped in collecting and transporting solid waste materials from the vessel which will be reprocessed in Bulacan.

Governor Hilario Davide III said that as far as the oil spill is concerned, efforts are now out of the emergency phase and they are already handling the situation in a post crisis strategy, which means clean-up operations are still being done but in a less extensive manner since there is a huge improvement in the shoreline of Cordova, the town most hit by the oil spill.

Davide, commander of the Incident Management Team, said he is satisfied with the efforts in addressing the oil spill since everybody is doing their best to help.

Burial

The Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes, on the other hand, does not want a repeat of the Princess of the Stars sinking in which corpses have remained in their custody. There are about 20 bodies reportedly still in the custody of the funeral parlor.

Parlor manager Engr. Bong Ebo raised this concern during yesterday’s command conference presided by acting mayor Edgardo Labella as mayor Michael Rama is currently in an official trip to Taiwan.

“We would ask for help from the city government to help us in ensuring that we will provide these unidentified fatalities with decent burial while considering possibilities of being identified in the future through DNA and dental matching. We believe that these people have souls and that they deserve a proper burial,” Ebo told Labella.

Labella said the concern is “valid” because the issue now is sanitation.

The Cosmopolitan Funeral manager added that the temporary burial, preferably an apartment type, will happen once authorities, particularly the Philippine Coast Guard, declares a cessation of retrieval operations.

In the absence of update from the Coast Guard, Cosmopolitan reported a total of 112 casualties with an additional female fatality retrieved yesterday.

Ebo added that there are 64 identified and 48 unidentified casualties. Of the 64 bodies identified, 61 have already been released to their relatives.

Ebo pointed out that the initial confusion and concern over duplication of re-entry permit has been settled with the help of city health officer Dr. Stella Ygonia.

“We were concerned when the Cebu City health department asked us for a re-entry permit before giving the clearance for a body for shipment. Since the sinking happened in Talisay City, we asked for a re-entry permit from Talisay city before bringing the cadavers to Cebu City where our morgue is located,” he explained.

He added that if they secure another re-entry permit from Cebu City, it will only create confusion especially on the total number fatalities. — AJ de la Torre, Jessa J. Agua and Michael Vencynth Braga, USJ-R Intern/JMO (FREEMAN)