Fisherfolk affected by oil spill to get compensation

MANILA, Philippines — Fisherfolk affected by the oil spill caused by the sinking of M/T Princess Empress in waters off Naujan, Oriental Mindoro will be getting compensation from the International Oil Pollution Compensation (IOPC) funds.

The IOPC was created by the 1992 Civil Liability Convention and the 1992 Fund Convention, of which the Philippines is a state party.

It provides “financial compensation for oil pollution damage that occurs in member-states, resulting from spills of persistent oil from tankers,” according to its website.

IOPC Director Gaute Sivertsen yesterday said they have visited the affected areas and have committed to give compensation to the affected fisherfolk.

“Right now, we are collecting claims forms from the victims which still have to be assessed by the experts. We will concentrate on fisherfolk and those who are most in need and then we will offer settlements as soon as possible,” Sivertsen said after attending the government’s interagency meeting yesterday.

“We will take this back to London and we have a meeting of government bodies in May, and we will be able to report the incident and also what we have seen during this visit,” he added.

Writ of kalikasan

The Department of Justice (DOJ) will be forced to seek a writ of kalikasan if authorities fail to act on retrieving the sunken vessel or siphoning the remaining oil from Princess Empress.

In an ambush interview yesterday, DOJ Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said authorities are given a 10-day deadline to find ways to plug the leak now that two months have passed since the Feb. 28 sinking of the oil tanker.

“We gave them a deadline. If they are not able to abide by the deadline, we will file a writ of kalikasan against those who have to be made to account,” Remulla said.

The writ of kalikasan is a legal remedy to compel authorities to act in enforcing environmental laws and to stop the destruction of the environment.

“The writ of kalikasan is the order of the court for people to repair the environment and to do something about the environment,” Remulla said.

During the DOJ interagency meeting yesterday with authorities involved in the clean-up, DOJ Undersecretary Raul Vasquez said the government “is not ready to wait too long” for the insurance company of the ship owner, RDC Reield Marine Services, to resolve the oil spill.

Vasquez asked representatives from the insurance association P&I Club to have a “written undertaking” about the retrieval of the sunken vessel or the siphoning of the contents from three of its eight tanks that are estimated to contain 300,000 liters of industrial oil.

“Is it possible to have an internal time, maybe 10 days, to give us a decision as to your undertaking to have that retrieval done? Because you will just be reporting to your principals, and the principals will simply have to confirm that they do agree to undertake that and initiate the selection process for the relevant salvor company to handle this... This is something that has to be handled by international salvors, not local salvors,” Vasquez said.

The 10-day deadline is given to the insurers “for them to give (the DOJ) at least a written commitment to do the retrieval operations, name of salvor, timetable and other details for the operations,” according to Vasquez.

Shipowners’ P&I representatives – claims manager May Valles and lawyer Valeriano del Rosario – assured the DOJ that they are studying all “methodologies” to plug the leak that would not worsen the spill. — Bella Cariaso