Mindoro oil spill: Damage to environment hits P7 billion

MANILA, Philippines — Damage to the environment due to the oil spill from the sunken motor tanker Princess Empress has been estimated to reach around P7 billion.

In an interview with ANC yesterday, Environment SecretaryMaria Antonio Yulo-Loyzaga said the amount of damage was based on coral reefs, seagrasses, mangroves and fisheries exposed to the oil slick.

“What we have to do now is verify on the ground how much of these risks have actually been touched by oil, how many of the mangroves have been actually destroyed and how much of these seagrasses have actually been affected,” Loyzaga said.

She said the livelihood of 26,000 fisherfolk was also affected by the oil spill.

Citing an update from the University of the Philippines-Marine Science Institute, Loyzaga said the oil spill has reached Verde Island Passage.

“Not all the leaks have been plugged. However, these have been significantly plugged. What we see by way of satellite is just a small amount of oil that continuously leaks and I understand there are two left of these leaks generating oil,” she said.

Meanwhile, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that damage to fisheries, including income loss, has reached P3.8 billion.

The NDRRMC said most of the affected areas are in Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan.

Up to 40,897 families or 193,436 people have been affected by the oil spill.

As this developed, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) confirmed that Princess Empress was “refurbished” at a shipyard in Navotas in 2020.

Caretaker Jerwin Crisostomo of Majestic Shipyard told NBI probers that the tanker was a “small vessel” when it was brought for remodeling. – Michael Punongbayan, Mark Ernest Villeza