‘Cleanup of Iloilo oil spill to take another month’

MANILA, Philippines - Barring bad weather, it will just take another month before the cleanup of the oil spill in Iloilo province would be completed, a joint assessment team of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said yesterday.

The JICA and the Japan Coast Guard team assessed the extent of the oil spill from the National Power Corp. power barge that ran aground  in Estancia town at the height of Super Typhoon Yolanda.

“As of now, they have recovered 95 percent of the oil spill. But it will take us one more month to clean up the debris from the water, and complete the siphoning of the remaining oil from the damaged power barge to the waiting motor tanker,” said PCG spokesman Cmdr. Armand Balilo.