Coast Guard: 60% of oil spill-hit shorelines cleaned up
MANILA, Philippines — Responders and volunteers have so far cleaned up 60% of the oil spill-affected coastlines more than a month since tanker MT Princess Empress sank off Oriental Mindoro, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported on Thursday.
“Based on our accounting yesterday, our progress was at 60%. So this is a good progress in our efforts to remove oil from the affected coastlines,” Vice Admiral Rolando Punzalan Jr., PCG’s deputy commandant for operations, told state broadcaster People’s Television Network.
In an update, the Coast Guard said it has collected 13,383 liters of oily water and 139 sacks of oil-contaminated materials during its offshore oil spill response operations.
From March 1 to 29, authorities also gathered 3,937.5 sacks and 22 drums of oil-contaminated materials in affected barangays of Naujan, Bulalacao, and Pola towns in Oriental Mindoro.
Punzalan cannot yet say how long the cleanup will last, but he stressed that their operations on the ground are in full swing.
MT Princess Empress was loaded with 800,000 liters of industrial oil when it sank off Oriental Mindoro on February 28. The vessel is still leaking oil into the sea, threatening not only the area’s rich marine biodiversity, but also disrupting the livelihoods of locals.
The vessel was found last week by a Japanese remotely operated underwater vehicle.
Accountability, transparency
Advocates of Science and Technology for the People (AGHAM) on Thursday called for accountability from the companies responsible for the oil spill, which can be considered one of the worst in the country’s history.
“Cash aid is temporary, but the ecological damage brought by the oil spill is long-term,” said Jerwin Baure, public information officer of AGHAM. The incident is threatening the Verde Island Passage, which is known for its rich marine life.
He said the vessel owner RDC Reield Marine Services and the charterer SL Harbor Bulk Terminal Corporation, a subsidiary of San Miguel Corp., should pay the affected residents and shoulder the rehabilitation of affected marine ecosystems.
Baure also called for transparency from the government on the efforts to clean up the oil and recover the sunken vessel.
“The government must be transparent on how they are going to hold the involved companies accountable to this catastrophe. An oil spill as big as this is not only a national concern but also an international one considering that it happened in a biodiversity hotspot,” he said. — Gaea Katreena Cabico
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