For House probe: Gov wants names in oil spill cleanup

ILOILO CITY, Philippines – Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor, Sr. urged the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation to submit the names of members and the minutes of the meeting of the bids and awards committee before the Congressional investigation on October 9.

PSALM is the owner of the ill-fated Power Barge 103 that caused the oil spill in Estancia and other neighboring towns in Iloilo last year.

Defensor said if PSALM could not submit the minutes and the list of BAC members who awarded the P87.2-million oil spill clean-up to Kuan Yu Global Technologies Incorporated, he will ask the House committee on energy, headed by Oriental Mindoro’s Representative Reynaldo Umali to issue a subpoena duces tecum.

The governor said he already wrote a letter to PSALM asking for the list of BAC members but it answered by asking him instead on what was his purpose of the request.

Defensor said he told PSALM that he will use it in filing the case because he believed that the bidding violated the law. “Why do they still refused to give us the copy if they are not guilty of the bidding process?,” he asked.

Seven committee members of the Congressional probe will conduct an inspection of the oil spill site, he said, adding that the company, if found liable, would be charged criminally and administratively later on.

“The investigation will look into the impact on environment, life, livelihood, shelter, dangers done and irregularities on the bidding if it was really conducted legally or done with anomaly,” said Defensor.

The governor said whatever would be the outcome of the House probe, there are already bases to file a case against PSALM and Kuan Yu.

The oil spill happened during Yolanda last year when the barge, carrying around 1.4 million liters of bunker fuel, leaked and spilled at least 900,000 liters of the cargo into the sea, causing a massive evacuation of almost 5,000 people from Estancia due to toxic fumes.

PSALM, so far, has only given P1.5 million to the Iloilo provincial government to help the evacuees.