Fresh oil sheen spotted off Oriental Mindoro 

MANILA, Philippines — New traces of oil sheen spotted off the waters of Oriental Mindoro where a huge oil tanker sank over a year ago has sparked Pola Municipal Mayor Jennifer Cruz's fears of a repeat of the environmental disaster that wrecked fisher communities' livelihoods.

The familiar signs of grease in the waters near one of five provinces encompassed by the Verde Island Passage should also trigger the government's swift action to protect the biodiversity hotspot, environmental advocates warned.

Cruz said in an interview with "One Balita Pilipinas" on Wednesday that the municipal government has yet to identify the source of the oil spill, which appears to be the same type of oil that was leaked from the sinking of MT Princess Empress in March 2023. 

The oil sheen has now affected two barangays. It was first spotted around 620 meters from the shore of Barangay Buhay na Tubig before being seen near Barangay Batuhan, Cruz said.

Cruz said she doubts that the oil sheen came from a new incident of an oil spill. "Sabi ng coast guard ito ay panibago, pero hindi naman nangyayari ito sa matagal na panahon. … Parang nag-jump agad sa conclusion na hindi ito galling sa lumang barko. Pero saan galling? 'Yun ang question natin." 

(The coast guard said this is something new, but this previously did not happen to us for a long time. ... It's like they jumped to the conclusion that it didn't come from an old ship. But where did it come from? That's our question.)

The Pola mayor said that the fresh oil slick could again harm the health of local fisherfolk in the area, as well as coast guard personnel who will help clean it up.

"Kawawa ang fisherfolk. Until now hindi pa rin nabibigyan ng compensation kaya mabigat na saamin. Yung ating mga bantay dagat again sila nanaman ang mga magkakasakit dito kasi kawawa sila," she said.

(The fisherfolk are suffering. Until now, they still haven't been given compensation, so it's really hard for us. Our coast guards, once again, are the ones who will get sick because they are the ones affected.)

Cruz said that the municipal government no longer has the funds to dole out enough tivelihood assistance to fisherfolk that may be affected by the incident, adding that the previous compensation promised to fisherfolk has not been completely distributed.

The Pola mayor said she plans to write a letter to the Senate to seek their help in addressing the lack of compensation for fisherfolk affected by the oil spill more than a year ago.

"Out of the 5,700, 156 pa lang ang nabibigyan (Out of the 5,700 fisherfolk, only 156 have received assistance)," Cruz said. 

"Ang tagal naming walang hanapbuhay. So ano gagawin nila? Hintayin another oil spill para mabigyan kami ulit? (We went without livelihood for a while. So what should we do? Wait for another oil spill to get funding again?)" she added.

Environmental advocates sound alarm

Protect VIP, a coalition advocating for the protection of the VIP, said that the government should designate the VIP as a protected area under  Republic Act 7586, or the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) law to ensure its protection from future oil spill incidents.

Known to have the highest concentration of marine species in the world, the VIP does not have a national protected area status but it encompasses 36 locally managed marine protected areas (MPA) in the network: 24 in Batangas and 12 in Oriental Mindoro.

“It is disheartening to see that the VIP is still yet to recover from the Mindoro oil spill last year, and now, another oil spill looms over its previous ground zero in Pola," said Protect VIP in a statement.

"We worry that this new oil spill would add up to the already existing damages in the VIP, and while that in itself is alarming, our greatest concern is the potential oil spills in the future if the VIP remains to be left unprotected,” said  Edwin Gariguez, lead convenor of Protect VIP.

The oil spill threatens vulnerable areas in the VIP, such as Barangays Buhay na Tubig and Bacawan, which are homes to a mangrove sactuary and an MPA, respectively, the Protect VIP pointed out.