London-based firm to bankroll siphoning of bunker fuel in Guimaras

A London-based firm engaged in oil pollution compensation has agreed to bankroll the siphoning of thousands of liters of bunker fuel from a sunken tanker lying off the coast of Guimaras island in Western Visayas.

Dr. Anthony Golez, Office of Civil Defense administrator, who is in London, said the International Oil Pollution Compensation (IOPC) will shoulder the cost of the siphoning operations and pay damage claims to affected residents.

"Mission accomplished tayo dito sa London," he said in a text message to reporters in Camp Aguinaldo yesterday.

"The insurers of the Guimaras oil spill pay off efforts of siphoning oil from sunken Solar I and the claims of the affected."

Golez along with presidential adviser for Western Visayas, Rafael Coscolluela, met with IOPC officials in London on Monday to discuss the funding for the proposed siphoning of bunker fuel from the M/T Solar I.

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of liters of bunker fuel are still inside the cargo hold of Solar I, which sank in bad weather last Aug. 11 near Guimaras while on its way to Zamboanga City to deliver two million liters of bunker fuel from Bataan.

Earlier, Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz Jr., Task Force Guimaras overall head, said he is "99.9 percent sure" that the IOPC would finance the pumping of the remaining bunker fuel. — Jaime Laude