President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s administration has been employing the whole-of-approach in containing and cleaning up the recent oil spill in Oriental Mindoro, an official of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Saturday.
PCG Commandant Admiral Artemio Abu said it would be necessary to comply with President Marcos’ directive to address the oil spill within four months.
“Magtutulung-tulong po tayo. This is not just about the effort of the coast guard but this is a whole-of-government approach. Ang approach po natin, tulong-tulong po tayo, nandiyan na po ang mga iba’t ibang ahensya ng pamahalaan – ang DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources), even DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development), the LGUs (local government units), the academe. Kasi kailangan po ang approach natin sa problemang ito ay scientific, it has to be science-based, hindi pwede na basta-basta na lang tayo mag-conduct or mag-apply whatever chemicals to be introduced to the environment,” Abu said.
“In our oil spill contingency plan sa Coast Guard mayroon po kaming National Oil Spill Contingency Plan (NOSCoP) – so, diyan po nagdi-declare kami ng level or tier: Tier one, maliit lang na kayang gampanan ng company; tier two, Coast Guard wide ang hahawak; and tier three, international na. Kapag more than one million na ang volume ng oil na involved sa spill ay i-elevate po natin sa tier three. And this is one is less than one million, so right now nasa tier two pa po tayo – so, coast guard pa po ang nag-o-oversee ng operations ng oil spill response operations ng government,” the PCG commandant explained.
The PCG chief also said numerous experts and other coast guards of other countries, which include a Japanese team, have offered to help in the ongoing clean-up operations in the area.
“Actually, kahapon ay tinanggap na po natin iyong team na galing Japan, kasi po ang atin pong Philippine Coast Guard being a universal service – ibig sabihin ng universality of the coast guard – ang nature of our existence, the nature of our work, of coast guards of developed maritime nations and of course Coast Guard natin sa Pilipinas mayroon po kaming pagkakaisa – so, kung may problema ang isa, nagtutulungan kami,” Abu pointed out.
“Tulad niyan alam nila na mayroong oil spill although hindi pa naman tayo nag-declare na tier three iyong level ng oil spill pero marami na pong bansa especially coast guard agencies of different countries are coming in and wanting to help your Philippine Coast Guard,” the PCG chief added.
To effectively address the incident, Abu said the operating teams have to locate where the oil tanker sank in order to contain the spillage.
“Ang second ay iyong dispersal and containment while at sea – so, nandoon po, may contracted salvor naman ang spiller at iyong protection and indemnity club and that is the insurance company noong spiller. Ora mismo, mabilis po ang pag-accept ng responsibility ng spiller so, kaya po mas madali po ang effort ng gobyerno natin,” the PCG chief added, noting that the authorized salvor is in the area to prevent the oil from going to the shorelines.
To protect the shorelines, Abu said they have called on the LGUs and all units of the PCG to put in place safety nets and contingencies to shield the projected areas that would be affected by the oil spill.
“And the last one is about the cleanup and recovery of oil that has reached the shoreline. Kung distance ang pag-uusapan, 70 kilometers na from the sinking site, so going to Antique sa may Caluya Island mayroon na doon; iyon po so far ang pinakamalayo na narating na,” the PCG chief said.
Abu said they have yet to determine the percentage of the oil that leaked into the sea has been recovered or cleaned up in the ongoing operations.
Reports said the MT Princess Empress was carrying an estimated 800,000 liters of industrial fuel oil when it sank on February 28 while en route to Iloilo province from Bataan after its engine overheated.
Catherine R. Cueto
