DENR units near sea mishap site told to prepare vs possible oil spill

GMANews TV
06/26/2008 | 04:43 PM

MANILA, Philippines - Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) personnel were instructed Thursday to keep an eye for any possible oil spill from the capsized MV Princess of the Stars passenger ferry off Romblon.

In a statement posted on the DENR website, DENR Sec. Jose Atienza Jr directed DENR personnel, particularly those “in and around Romblon,” to prepare to respond to such a scenario.

“You must be vigilant and ready to get into action at the first sign of an oil spill. We cannot afford additional environmental damages at this time when the world is racing against time to heal the earth from various environmental damages, among which is global warming,” Atienza said.

(Click here for the rest.)

Exxon Valdez $2.5B oil spill ruling overturned

By James Vicini
June 25, 2008

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday threw out the record $2.5 billion in punitive damages that Exxon Mobil Corp had been ordered to pay for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska, the nation’s worst tanker spill.

By a 5-3 vote, the high court ruled that the punitive damages award should be slashed to a maximum amount equal to the total relevant compensatory damages of $507.5 million.

The justices overturned a ruling by a U.S. Court of Appeals that had awarded the record punitive damages to about 32,000 commercial fishermen, Alaska natives, property owners and others harmed by the spill.

In the majority opinion, Justice David Souter concluded the $2.5 billion in punitive damages was excessive under federal maritime law, and should be cut to the amount of actual harm.

Soaring oil prices have propelled Exxon Mobil to previously unforeseen levels of profitability in recent years; the company posted earnings of $40.6 billion in 2007.

It took Exxon Mobil just under two days to bring in $2.5 billion in revenue during the first quarter of 2007.

(Click here for the rest.)

250K liters of oil threaten to spill out of sunken ship

By Jojo Robles
Mla. Standard Today
June 25, 2008

AN OIL spill from the Sulpicio Lines ferry that capsized June 21 with more than 800 people on board could destroy coastal areas and aquatic life around Sibuyan and nearby islands and take years to clean up.

The m/v Princess of the Stars was carrying 250,000 liters of bunker fuel in its hold when it capsized near Sibuyan Island in Romblon at the height of typhoon Frank early Saturday, sources close to the investigation of the sinking of the ferry told Standard Today.

A team of investigators who flew over to inspect the overturned hull at close range said small quantities of the fuel had already leaked out of the disabled vessel, indicating that most of the toxic cargo was intact.

“There is evidence that some of the fuel is leaking around the vessel,” a source told Standard Today.

“But if the ship breaks up on its own or is forced open by rescuers looking for survivors, the oil could leak, damaging the environment and destroying the livelihood of fisherfolk in the area for years to come.”

Earlier, rescuers announced that they were planning to force open the hull of the Princess in an effort to find survivors. As of yesterday, only about 48 of 849 passengers and crew on the ship had survived, authorities said.

Divers retrieved only bodies from the capsized vessel yesterday and the Coast Guard said more were likely to be brought in over the next hours.

“Most of the bodies were floating inside. They were trapped when the seven-story ship suddenly tilted and capsized,” Navy spokesman Edgard Arevalo said in a radio interview.

In August 2006, the m/t Solar 1 sank in waters near Guimaras Island off Iloilo, carrying down with it 1.8 million liters of bunker fuel and triggering the country’s worst oil spill.

The Solar 1 carried more fuel than the Princess, but the tanker’s dangerous cargo sank at least 700 meters in the water and several kilometers off the coast of the nearest island, minimizing its effects on the environment, the same source said.

(Click here for the rest.)

Black substance in Carles waters creates panic

By Ruby P. Silubrico
Sun Star Iloilo
June 25, 2008

PANIC struck some locals of Carles, Iloilo after they saw a black substance scattered in the shores of their municipality.

They believed the said substance might be oil spill from a coal-carrying ship that capsized Saturday last week as Typhoon Frank hit the province of Iloilo.

The local government unit of Carles and the Bantay Dagat personnel immediately went to the area to verify the information. It was proven that the said substance was oil from the ship identified as M/V Lake Paoay from Semirara Island.

The ship capsized about 4 a.m. Saturday.

Presidential Assistant for Western Visayas Raul Banias Monday confirmed the ship spilled about 50,000 liters of oil when it capsized Saturday. He added that it could not damage the waters of Carles and it’s far from the Guimaras oil spill case.

Banias said the Semirara Mining Corp. chartered the M/V Lake Paoay. It was bound for Toledo, Cebu but upon arriving at the seawaters of Carles, strong winds and heavy waves hit the ship until it capsized.

“The oil in the water could not damage the seashore and there is no need to panic,” Banias said over a radio interview.

Banias said the vessel had 24 crews and other persons who also boarded the ship.

According to reports, seven of those in the ship were confirmed dead, while only 4 survived and 26 are still missing.

Banias said they now are monitoring the waters of Carles and will conduct a clearing operation.

Mining firms want to explore Guimaras

By Maricar M. Calubiran
The News Today
June 20, 2008

Four mining companies have applied for exploration works in the the island province of Guimaras. The exploration applications cover 37,000 hectares or more than half of the island’s total land area which is 600,400 hectares.

The four mining firms are Fil Asian Strategic Resources and Properties Corporation, Dorilag Cement Corporation, Next Generation and Global Philippines. Of the four applicants, Fil Asian and Dorilag were given exploration permits by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Of the 98 barangays in the island, 84 barangays have been applied for exploration works to determine the presence of iron, copper, gold, limestones and other mineral deposits available in the island.

(Read the rest at Mining in Guimaras.)

Guimaras chief hopes to receive additional oil spill fund

By Maricar M. Calubiran
The News Today
June 20, 2008

Guimaras Gov. Felipe Nava said they are hoping to receive additional oil spill funds from the national government. He said, of the P800 million oil spill rehabilitation fund, only P100 million was released to the province.

Nava said a team from the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) in Manila arrived in the province last week and assessed the damage brought about by the oil spill.

As far as the governor is concerned, the releases that the national government had made was the P50 million for infrastructure, P25 million for the Department of Social Welfare and Development, P2.4 for the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and more than P4 million for the Department of Health (DOH).

However, Nava is banking on the funds released to the Department of Social Welfare and Development for its cash for work program. The department has still in hand some P100 million for the cash for work program intended for the affected areas.

In one of his visits in Iloilo City, Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya said the national government would only release funds on a case-to-case basis.

Andaya said they are not in a hurry to release any fund without any purpose. The fund should be spent only for rehabilitation purposes and not for anything else. There are proposals from different national government agencies that were disapproved because of its non-relevance.

He stressed out that the fund should not be spent for projects such as road construction which is not in any way related to the rehabilitation of the island as an aftermath of the August 11, 2006 oil spill. The project proponent should give exact and convincing reasons why they should be given funds.

One of those projects that were disapproved by the government is the “food for work” of the Department of Social Welfare and Development Office. There is no need for the government to give allocation to the “food for work” program since the affected residents already returned to their normal lives.

First RP-made, double-hulled oil tanker sails

By LILITA BALANE
abs-cbnNEWS.com
June 16, 2008

The first Philippine-made, double-hulled oil tanker, designed to prevent costly and environmentally-destructive oil spills such as the disaster that hit Guimaras in 2006, is now sailing.

“The ship is currently transporting bunker fuels in different parts of the country. From the Pacific Ocean to the Petron refinery in Bataan. It started last April 8. So far, the performance of M/T Matikas is far more than we expected.” George Cottrell, president of the Herma Shipyard Inc., said Monday.

Hermio Esguerra, chairman of the Herma Group of Companies, told reporters double-hulled ships such as M/T Matikas would help lower the incidence of oil spills.

Esguerra said that the ship that sank in Guimaras was a single-hulled oil tanker. With a double-hull, petroleum products are protected on all sides, he added.

(Click here for the rest of the story.)

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Guimaras grabs tourism alternative

By Nestor P. Burgos Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
05/17/2008

NUEVA VALENCIA, Guimaras – Frankie Aracan leads a pack of journalists through the rocky, winding trail on mountain bikes. He regularly checks if anyone is left behind or is having difficulty catching up.

A few hours later, Aracan gives pointers as they rappel down a 95-foot cliff overlooking the pristine beaches of Guimaras Island.

Aracan is not an expert mountain biker or rappeller although he has undergone training as a guide for adventure sports. On most days, he is on a tricycle ferrying passengers from the town proper of Nueva Valencia to the villages.

But like other residents of Sitio Guisi in Barangay Dolores, he is getting much needed extra income from a heritage tourist site recently launched by the Department of Tourism. He earns P250 to P350 for a day’s work as a tour guide of the community-based Guisi Discovery Quest – bigger than the average P150 he gets from his regular job.

(For the rest, click Guimaras grabs.)

The hidden jewel that is Guimaras

Alexander R. Bautista
Manila Standard Today
May 8, 2008

From breathtaking sights to mouth-watering delicacies, Guimaras Island is a veritable treasure trove of delights. As one of the lesser-known destinations in the country, it has managed to maintain its pristine charms, charms that more than a year ago were threatened by an ecological mishap.

In August 2006, M/V Solar 1, an oil tanker chartered by Petron, sank off Guimaras’ shores, spilling 2.4 million liters of oil and contaminating 1,000 hectares of mangrove areas. The massive oil spill threatened species such as dugong and rare sea turtles. At that time, environmentalists called the accident the worst oil spill in the country’s history and estimated the cleanup to take at least a year.

But the joint efforts by the Department of Tourism, the United Nations Development Program, Canadian Urban Institute, and the Guimaras local government have worked wonders in restoring the province’s beauty. Last April 19, the coalition established a community-based tourism project called, “Guisi Discovery Quest” in Sitio Guisi, Barangay Dolores in Nueva Valencia.

(Click Hidden jewel for the rest of the story.)

IOPC releases P7.6M oil spill claims

By Maricar M. Calubiran
The News Today, Apr. 29, 2008

Presidential Assistant for Western Visayas Raul Banias said the International Oil Pollution Compensation (IOPC) Fund recently released a total of P7.6 million to 902 approved claimants from the five coastal municipalities of the province of Iloilo.

Banias said the release may be the last of the releases made by the IOPC as compensation to those who were affected by the oil spill that hit the island province of Guimaras on August 2006 which also caused damages to the neighboring coastal municipalities. The release was made in Concepcion, Iloilo two weeks ago.

Assisted by IOPC’s local contact Patricia Amboy, the highest release went to the municipality of Concepcion. The compensation amounted to P6.7 million for 698 approved claimants out of the 5,973 who applied for claims. The claims for the town of Concepcion was made last April 10 to 11, 2008.

Banias said each claims were distributed in the recipient towns. In Ajuy, out of the 7,970 claimants, the IOPC approved 81 who were compensated with P56,184.

The town of Miagao has 1,573 applicants but only 43 were approved and given a total compensation of P141, 226.

Meanwhile, in the town of Dumangas, there were 70 approved claimants from out of the 4,513 applicants. The claimants received a total compensation of P152,184.

The town with the least compensation was Barotac Nuevo where only 10 applicants were approved out of the 581 claims with a total compensation of P44, 888.

Applicants whose compensation claims were rejected filed an appeal. No response has been heard yet from the IOPCF.

UNDP supports Guisi heritage tourism project

By Maricar M. Calubiran
The News Today, Apr. 24, 2008

THE United Nations Development Programme has released P995,000 for the procurement of mountain bikes, snorkeling materials and masks for the Guisi Discovery Quest, according to UNDP Resident Representative Kyo Naka. The Guisi Discover Quest is an eco-tourism initiative designed to help communities hit by the oil spill in Guimaras Island, Iloilo.

UNDP’s involvement in the Guisi Community Based Tourism initiative was primarily in response to the oil spill disaster that hit the island-province in 2006.

Guisi Discovery Quest is managed by the Barangay Dolores Tourism Council (BDTC) in Nueva Valencia, Guimaras. Aside from UNDP, the Department of Tourism and Canadian Urban Institute (CUI) also helped in the tourism project. Naka, along with Department of Tourism Secretary Joseph Durano, was in Guimaras last week for the Guisi Discovery Quest launching.

Naka said the UNDP’s intervention in the tourism initiative in Guimaras was an offshoot of their emergency meeting. The UNDP is supportive to projects with emphasis on the protection of environment and tourism friendly initiatives.

Naka said like other donor agencies that entered the island because of oil spill, the UNDP is also supportive in all human development. The Guisi Discovery Quest, which is a community-based tourism project could help the residents.

Naka added that the catastrophe has been turned into opportunity with the entry of all donor agencies in the island. If the project is done and implemented properly, it could be a model for the entire country. It will lead new areas in tourism industry.

The initiative which begins with the hospitality of the residents will draw number of tourists to the island. It will generate income for the residents.

The UNDP also wants environmental management laws in South East Asia and the International Maritime Organization to prevent similar oil spill accidents, said Naka.

The Guisi Discovery Quest, a tour package, includes a visit in the 18th Century old Guisi Lighthouse, Guisi beaches, Panluron Falls, wilderness trail, island hopping, boating, snorkeling, fishing, visit in marine sanctuaries, Hinalaran Cove and Guisi Coral Reef.

COA finds irregularities in oil spill funds

By Nestor P. Burgos Jr.
Visayas Bureau, Inquirer
04/23/2008

ILOILO CITY – The Commission on Audit (COA) has found irregularities in the use of P10 million in taxpayers’ money to help towns on Guimaras Island that were suffering from the country’s worst oil spill.

An 18-page report of the COA, dated Feb. 8, said some of the funds were released to municipalities that were not listed as suffering from the oil spill. A copy of the report was sent to Iloilo Gov. Niel Tupas Sr.

The P10 million was part of at least P40 million released by the Office of the President to Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros Occidental in response to calls for help from towns hurt by the oil spill.

Funds for Iloilo province were released in two installments – P5 million on Aug. 25, 2006, and another P5 million on Sept. 25 the same year. These were used to buy fishing equipment, boat engines and kerosene lanterns.

The provincial government reported that it released P1.95 million to 19 coastal municipalities and P360,000 to 13 barangays.

The COA report, however, said the provincial government also released P1.1 million to 11 coastal municipalities that were not listed as suffering from the oil spill based on a report by the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC). The towns included San Joaquin, Guimbal, Tigbauan, Leganes, Zarraga, Anilao, San Dionisio, Batad, Estancia, Balasan and Carles.

The report said the release of P1.1 million to the 11 towns violated rules on the use of taxpayers’ money. It was signed by Marietta Sofia, audit team leader, and Arlene Togonon, regional cluster director.

Manuel Mejorada, provincial administrator, denied any irregularities in the use of funds for oil spill-stricken towns.

Mejorada said the PDCC report was not an accurate basis to determine whether or not a town was suffering from the oil spill.

While the oil spill didn’t reach the shores of some towns, they also suffered because of lower fish catch, he said.

The COA report also noted a delay in the purchase and distribution of fishing equipment worth P7.68 million.

“Had the equipment been acquired earlier, the equipment and supplies could have curbed the urgent impact of the oil spill …,” the report said.

It also noted a P1.48 million overprice in the purchase of boat engines worth P4.22 million.

DOT launches eco-park in Guimaras

Phil. Star, April 20, 2008

GUIMARAS - The Department of Tourism (DOT) launched here on Saturday a United Nations-funded ecological park which aims to revive tourism two years after a major oil spill hit the island province.

Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano said the Guisi Discovery Quest would provide jobs to communities affected by the oil spill, particularly residents of the hardly-hit town of Nueva Valencia.

“The Department of Tourism consistently promotes the local attractions and activities in this area to show the healing capabilities of ecological tourism to a distressed community and its environment,” Durano said in a press conference.

Although he could not say that the province has fully recovered from the disaster, Durano said that the Guimaras “is better now” than in the previous years.

Durano said about 18 percent of the coastal areas of the island was affected by the oil spill. But he said alternative livelihood has been provided by the government to residents who are highly dependent on
fishing.

Durano said the entire province would benefit from this venture by providing them opportunities to work as guides, kitchen staff and maintenance crew to varied nature-based programs. (Helen Flores)

Oil spills spurs protest art

The News Today
April 9, 2008

(The body of the fish is furrowed with wave-like patterns, undulating, streamlined from gills to tail. This sculpture is a perfectly haunting metaphor for the destruction wrought by the lamentable oil spill)

An ecological disaster of immense magnitude and dire consequences, the Guimaras oil spill was a nightmare visited upon a quiet island notably famous for the exquisite sweetness of their mangoes. More than just a cataclysmic event, the oil spill was a wounding and desecretation of nature, indeed a trauma not to be soon forgotten. Like a hideous stain of sin, the menace of the oil spill spead through the once healthy mangroves nurturing the fish of the sea and penetrated within the dense foliage like a cancer that has tenaciously taken residence within.

Thus, the subject of “A Protest Over the Guimaras Oil Spill” by Harry Mark Gonzales, 26. As a native of Iloilo City where the island of Guimaras is a 20-minute boatride away, Gonzales felt the emotional inquiry of the oil spill almost like a personal violation. Indeed, the focus of Gonzales as a sculptor is upon social and environmental issues. To him, these carry “overwhelming sentiments.”

What Gonzales did with his material is a tour-de-force, a brilliant and poignant idea — fired terracotta clay mixed with oil. Noxious black, the very substance absorbed within the earthen red clay. When fired, the black oil stains seeped through like a parasitic organism.

(Click Harry’s art for the rest of the story.)

Avoiding another Guimaras

By Jojo Robles
Mla. Standard Today/opinion
Mar. 19, 2008

Now that crude oil is trading at all-time record high prices in the world market, it’s easy to forget that while the oil companies have a very expensive product, they also need to ensure that its delivery is safe. Two years ago, it seemed that we learned that lesson the hard way—even if it now appears that we haven’t learned anything at all.

In the aftermath of the disastrous sinking of the M/V Solar I in August 2006 off the coast of Guimaras Island, President Arroyo instructed the Maritime Industry Authority to immediately order operators of oil tankers to use double-hull vessels when transporting their expensive—and extremely toxic—cargo. Now, when many Filipinos living away from that disaster area have forgotten the horrors of that incident, some players in the tanker contracting industry are hell-bent on stopping Marina from implementing that presidential directive, way beyond the deadline for compliance with local and international regulations.

That most of the 20 or so companies engaged in transporting 75 percent of all of the imported oil used in the Philippines are fighting the implementation of the double-hull rule is understandable, given the expense entailed in the rental of compliant ships and the refitting of their existing vessels. That doesn’t mean they should be allowed to continue using dangerous single-hull ships to ferry their cargo—unless we want a repeat of Guimaras.

For those who may have forgotten, the Petron-contracted Solar I dumped more than 2 million liters of industrial fuel oil along 200 kilometers of pristine Guimaras coastline, destroying 1,128 hectares of mangroves and the livelihood of 22,000 fishermen in what was once rich fishing grounds. While Malacañang released P20 million in calamity funds to the area’s residents, this was a mere pittance compared to the actual damage and the clean-up costs, which were estimated in the neighborhood of P400 million.

(Click Avoiding another Guimaras for the rest.)

Marina defers ban on single-hull tankers

Manila Standard Today
March 7, 2008

The Philippines’ maritime regulator has extended the deadline to ban single-hull oil tankers from its waters to April 30 from April 1 to give charterers more time to switch to vessels fitted with two hulls.

The Maritime Industry Authority has issued a circular prohibiting single-hull ships from calling at Philippine ports from April 30, Transportation Undersecretary Len Bautista said in a mobile phone message yesterday. In January, Bautista said single-hull vessels carrying crude oil and marine fuel won’t be allowed to dock at ports from April 1, two years earlier than planned.

The extension came after “some operators asked for an allowance,” Bautista said. “It’s also to allow oil companies to have better rates in negotiating vessels,” he said, adding the extension still falls within the directive of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to ban the one-hull tankers by April.

The Philippines decided to ban single-hull tankers after the worst oil spill in the country’s history and a separate leak in South Korea. Asia is the biggest market for single-hull supertankers, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. said in a December report.

The single-hull crude oil supertanker Hebei Spirit caused the worst spill in South Korea’s history in December after it was struck by a crane. In August 2006, the tanker Solar 1 leaked 2.19 million liters of marine fuel, killing marine life and fouling the coastline of the Philippines’ Guimaras islands.

The Philippines has yet to schedule a ban on single-hull tankers that ship gasoline, jet fuel and other refined petroleum products, Bautista said.

(Click Marina defers for the rest.)

Oil rehab fund for Concepcion to be used for ecological camp

By Maricar M. Calubiran
The News Today
March 5, 2008

Presidential Assistant for Western Visayas Raul Banias yesterday said the P6.5 million oil spill fund intended for the municipality of Concepcion in Iloilo would be spent for the establishment of an “ecological camp” in said town. The P6.5 million came from the special budget allocated by the national government and coursed through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Banias, who has been the municipal mayor of the town for nine years said the ecological camp includes mangroves reforestation, protection of marine protected areas, establishment of additional marine protected areas and organizing of small fisherfolks.

The August 11, 2006 oil spill in Guimaras did not only affect the island but some coastal towns in Iloilo. In Concepcion, 10 barangays were affected by the oil spill. The MT Solar I was carrying 2.2 million liters of bunker fuel when it sank off the coast of Guimaras island. It was Petron that chartered the tanker to transport fuel from its Limay port in Bataan to Zamboaga City.

Banias said DENR is now on the process of transferring the fund to the municipal government of Concepcion. The P6.5 million oil rehabilitation fund is different from the fund to be released by the Department of Social Welfare and Development Office, said Banias.

Meanwhile, Banias stressed the importance of good governance and responsible tourism. He was very proud of his accomplishments during his term as the town’s municipal mayor. The town has been recipient of both national and international awards for the successful outcome of the projects he introduced to the town.

In yesterday’s workshop on The Environmental Security on Tourism (TEST), Banias told the attendees that he refused an offer from an international Japanese salvage group to salvage a sunken Japanese vessel in the Pan de Azucar.

The former town mayor said he wants to preserve the area for tourism and historical purposes. Banias said his decision is a manifestation of good governance. Until now, the vessel stays in the area where it sunk number of decades ago.

Local history said that on September 1944, a Japanese transport vessel and a convoy of naval boats were attacked by American air and naval forces. Four days after the fierce battle not one of the Japanese vessels remained afloat. Today, the mast of a ship could be seen protruding above the water during the low tide at the Pan de Azucar island.

Guimaras groups get P2.25M aid

Visayan Daily Star
Jan. 11, 2008

THE Department of Social Welfare and Development turned over P2.25 million to 15 Self-Employment Assistance-Kaunlaran associations in Guimaras as part of the ongoing oil spill rehabilitation program.

DSWD Regional Director Teresita Rosales said the money will serve as seed capital for livelihood programs to be implemented in five municipalities of the province.

Rosales led the recent turnover ceremony attended Regional Director Angel Gaviola of the Office of the Civil Defense-6, Gov. Felipe Nava, Mayor Samuel Gumarin of Buenavista, Mayor Cresente Chavez of Jordan, Mayor Alejandro Araneta of Nueva Valencia and Mayor Jimmy Gajo of San Lorenzo held at the GTIC Function Room in Jordan, Guimaras.

The towns of Buenavista and Sibunag, which have four SEA-K associations each, will receive P600,000, respectively.

Nueva Valencia will get P450,000 for its three SEA-K associations while Jordan and San Lorenzo will receive P300,000 each.

Rosales said the SEA-K associations have undergone social preparation and capability building activities such as business management skills training to ensure that they will be properly guided on how to sustain their projects.

RP to ban single-hull vessels in April

Bloomberg, Jan. 28, 2008

Manila: The Philippines will ban single-hull oil tankers from its waters from April, two years earlier than planned, after the worst oil spill in the country’s history and a separate leak in South Korea.

Vessels carrying “black” petroleum products such as crude oil and bunker fuel won’t be allowed to dock at ports from April 1 without a double hull, said Transportation Undersecretary Len Bautista in a phone interview from Manila.

The single-hull crude oil supertanker Hebei Spirit caused the worst spill in South Korea’s history last month after it was struck by a crane causing it to lose 66,000 barrels of crude oil, about 1/3 the size of the Exxon Valdez spill of 1989.

Marine threat

In August 2006, the tanker Solar 1 leaked 2.19 million litres of marine fuel, killing marine life and fouling the coastline of the Philippines’s Guimaras islands.

The spills “dramatise the urgent need to impose stricter safety standards and regulations on tankers to protect our environment,” Bautista said, adding the country’s previous plan was to ban such ships from 2010.

The country has yet to schedule a ban on single-hull tankers that ship gasoline, jet fuel and other refined petroleum products, Bautista said.

At least one crude-oil tanker, the Atora, is sailing toward a Philippine port.

The double-hull carrier built in 1991 is due to arrive at Bataan January 26, according to AISLive on Bloomberg. Two double-hull refined petroleum tankers, Petro Celine and Kirana Dwitya, are also sailing for the country’s ports.

‘Green courts must punish environment plunderers’

Davao City (16 January) — Senator Pia S. Cayetano yesterday lauded the move of the Supreme Court designating 117 “environmental courts” across the country even as she expressed hope for the speedy resolution of various complaints filed by citizens’ groups against major polluters and plunderers of the country’s natural resources.

“To me, the initiative of Chief Justice Reynato Puno to designate special courts to adjudicate environmental cases comes like a whiff of fresh, unpolluted air. It brings encouraging prospects to concerned citizens and environmentalists.

“This will encourage our fellow green warriors to persist in their legal and political struggles against known plunderers of our environment,” said Cayetano, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, in a press statement.

The lady senator said she was looking forward to the prompt resolution of major environmental disputes in the last two decades, particularly the pending class suit in relation to the Marcopper mine tailings spill in the province of Marinduque in 1996.

“More than a decade has passed since the biggest mining disaster in our history, but justice continues to elude Marinduquenos even while the mining company involved has long packed its bags and returned to its mother country,” she stressed.

Fairly recently, she said there was also the people’s suit filed against Lafayette Mining Corp. for the cyanide spill that caused massive fishkills in Rapu-Rapu, Albay in 2005 and the provincial government’s complaint against Petron and the owners of the Solar I tanker that caused a massive oil spill off the island province of Guimaras in August 2006.

She expressed hope that the environmental courts will also focus on expediting the cases on violations of the Fisheries Code, particularly the several cases pending against foreign poachers caught off the rich marine waters of Palawan and Sulu Sea.

Cayetano, who also chairs the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2001 (RA 9003) said she also looks forward to the early resolution of people’s complaints against local government units for violating the law’s total ban on the operation of dumpsites.

She pointed out that the judicial activism of the Supreme Court would be useless unless the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) becomes more pro-active in going after violators.

“We see dumpsites everywhere, including near critical bodies of water like the Laguna de Bay, and along the banks of rivers and watersheds. But where are the complaints? Unless no one comes out to charge the violators, there would be no court cases to talk about. The DENR should look into this matter.”

“Erring LGUs should not wait for complaints to be filed against them before the green courts. On their own, they should comply with the provisions of the solid waste management law now,” she added.

Citing official figures from the National Solid Waste Management Council, she said there were still around 1,020 dumpsites being operated across the country as of last year. (Office of Sen Pia-MikeAc-Ac/PIA XI)

Fishpond operators, seaweed growers still await compensation

By Erly C. Garcia
The News Today
Jan. 8, 2008

The provincial government of Guimaras is not giving up on its move to ask the London-based International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund (IOPCF) to pay the compensation claims of fishpond operators and seaweed growers in the province.

Rep. JC Rahman Nava, in an interview last week, said they are exhausting all the legal remedies to also include fishpond operators and seaweed growers in the oil spill compensation.

Last year, IOPCF rejected 6,090 claims from seaweed farmers and only accepted 299 applications. The Fund said that when they investigated the claims, “it became apparent that a large number of these claimants were not involved in seaweed farming at the time of the incident.”

IOPCF also rejected the claims of the nearly 126,000 residents of Guimaras because of some irregularities.

When asked if the rejected claimants still have the chance to receive compensation, Nava said it is up to the IOPCF.

The congressman said they left with the IOPCF the validation of applicants for compensation claims.

He said the IOPCF have set their own criteria which is based on international standards.

To note, out of the 125,614 second batch claimants from Guimaras, only 134 were accepted and were offered compensation totaling P1.4 million.

The Fund also accepted only 8,434 claims out of the 15,850 second batch claimants from municipalities in Iloilo.

The claims were rejected because they were incomplete and a significant number were from people under the age of 18 years, which is the minimum age at which people are allowed to engage in fishing in the country.

The IOPCF had earlier also raised concern over the number of claimants in Guimaras saying it was improbable that the oil spill had affected 80 percent of the island’s population of around 154,000.

The IOPCF has paid a total of P906,669,648 in compensation for economic losses and refund for expenses in the clean-up and preventive measures in relation to the Aug. 11. 2006 sinking of the M/T Solar I off the coasts of Guimaras.

The sinking triggered a massive oil spill after the tankers’s cargo of 2.1 million liters of bunker fuel were spilled contaminating marine resources and dislocating thousands of residents mostly dependent on fishing for their livelihood.

The Fund had receive claims totaling P2,514,425,538

It paid 22,307 claims amounting to P174,176,143 as compensation for economic losses for Guimaras and Iloilo residents. The Fund also paid P2,186,658 to 57 claimants from the island’s tourism sector. and P2,142,301 to 74 claims in property damages.

P23.5M oil spill rehab fund released to Guimaras

By Maricar M. Calubiran
The News Today,
Dec. 20, 2007

The provincial government of Guimaras recently received P23.5 million from Department of Agriculture (DA) as part of the national government’s oil spill rehabilitation fund. The fund is intended for the livelihood program of Guimaras residents affected by last year’s massive oil spill.

DA Regional Executive Director Larry Nacionales said the original budget request is P100 million but the national government reduced the funds to P65 million and later to P23.5 million.

The department and the provincial government of Guimaras have already forged a memorandum of agreement (MOA) regarding the turn-over of funds. The fund is specifically intended for livelihood programs such as vegetable farming, livestock and coconut production.

Nacionales said the provincial government must abide with the MOA. They could not divert the fund from any other projects. The projects are specific in order to avoid any duplications from regularly funded projects of the government.

The director failed to give the exact figures of the beneficiaries and on what municipality has the bigger slice of the fund. The beneficiaries of the project were identified by the municipal government units in the province, said Nacionales.

South Korea Cleans Up Big Oil Spill

By CHOE SANG-HUN
New York Times
Dec. 10, 2007

SEOUL, Dec. 9 — Thousands of fishermen, soldiers and volunteers struggled on Sunday to clean up the worst oil spill in South Korea’s history, an environmental disaster that has blackened once-scenic beaches, coated birds and oysters in sludge and driven away tourists with its stomach-churning stench.

Some 7,000 people have been mobilized to cope with the worst oil spill in South Korea’s history, including these workers in Taean.
But 7,000 people mobilized were too few to fight the oil slick, which has been washing up since Saturday along a 20-kilometer, or 12-mile, shoreline of the nation’s west coast. Strong tides, which dragged the sludge before pushing it ashore again, hampered the cleanup operations of villagers, who also complained of headaches and nausea from the stench.

The oil spill occurred a week after the South Korean port town of Yeosu won the right to host the 2012 Expo. Bidding for the international event, South Korea championed the theme of “the living ocean and coast,” a slogan it hoped would bolster marine environmental awareness in Asia.

The size of the oil spill was about one-fourth that of the 260,000 barrels, or 11 million gallons, leaked into Alaska’s Prince William Sound from the Exxon Valdez in 1989. It was twice as big as South Korea’s worst previous spill, in 1995, which cost 96 billion won, or $101 million, in damages to fishermen and months-long cleanup operations.

(Click Sokor spill for the rest of the story.)

P35M oil spill rehab fund released

By Maricar M. Calubiran
The News Today,
Dec. 7, 2007

The national government recently released P35 million for the province of Guimaras as part of its oil spill rehabilitation fund. The P35 million is the second trance of funds released for the province. Last year P5 million was released.

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Regional Director Teresita Rosales said the P35 million is part of the fund intended by the national government for the rehabilitation of the island-province which was affected by last year’s oil spill.

Of the P35 million, P18 million will go to the cash for work program, P10 million for the livelihood program, P2.4 million for the salaries of community facilitators and the remaining P4.6 million will go the administrative cost.

The fund for the cash for work program will be turned over to the Guimaras provincial government while the livelihood fund will be released to the five municipalities affected by the oil spill.

Rosales said the department along with the provincial and municipal mayors in Guimaras would sign a memorandum of agreement on how to implement the program covered by such funding. The MOA will be signed on December 18, 2007.

She explained that the MOA provides that the DSWD has the right to terminate or take back the project covered by such funding should the municipal government or recipients of the program violate what is stipulated in the program of work. The fund should be spent in the program of work and not on anything else, Rosales said.

In the same MOA, the local government is required to submit a monthly liquidation of whatever funds they received out of the oil spill rehabilitation funding. The department will also conduct inspection among the projects particularly in livelihood aspect, said Rosales.

In the livelihood fund, the municipality of Nueva Valencia which is hardly hit by the oil spill will receive P5 million, Sibunag P1.8 million, San Lorenzo P1.4, Buenavista P1.2 and P600,000 for Jordan.

Rosales said the MOA would serve as a guide to ensure the implementation of projects covered by the release and same time it will serve as guide on how to do the implementation of the oil spill rehabilitation program.

Fish abundance in Guimaras waters dropped 65%

By Nestor P. Burgos Jr.
The News Today,
Nov. 5, 2007

Marine scientists have recorded a 65 percent drop in fish abundance from the waters of Guimaras following last year’s massive oil spill that ravaged the island-province.

Dr. Wilfredo Campos, president of the Philippine Association of Marine Science (PAMS), said the studies conducted from two weeks after the oil spill until this year, showed the marked decline in fish abundance in the waters of Guimaras.

The findings of a research team headed by Campos was presented during the 9th National Symposium in Marine Science of the PAMS held in Iloilo City on October 24-26.

The studies showed a drop in fish density, biomass and diversity compared to the figures recorded in the same areas in 2001.

Fish density dropped from 1.5 grams per sq meter in 2001, to .8 in 2006 while biomass dropped from 26.5 g/sq m in 2001 to 9.3 in 2006. Fish diversity also was lower from 48.2 in 2001 to 35.8 in 2006.

Campos said the low figures were consistent in the 500-square-meter monitoring stations located in six sites in Barangay Tando and at the Taklong Island National Marine Reserve, both in Nueva Valencia town.

The areas are among the hardest hit by the oil spill after the M/T Solar I sank 13 nautical miles off Guimaras on Aug. 11, 2006, spilling almost 2 million liters of bunker fuel into the sea and triggering one of the country’s worst environmental disasters.

The findings scientifically validate the observations and complaints of fisherfolks and residents in affected areas that their fish catch has substantially decreased following the oil spill.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources and mangrove experts have also recorded the dying of at least 600 mature mangrove trees in Guimaras. Mangroves serve as breeding and feeding grounds of fishes.

Scientists have earlier said that the long-term and full impact of the oil spill on marine life in Guimaras would only be known after many years and would require continuous monitoring.

Campos said the oil spill could be the main reason for the drastic drop in fish volume in the affected areas. But he said they had expected that the impact on fishes would have been short-term because the mature ones could have had evaded the oil spill by swimming away from the affected areas.

“This could also be caused by other factors that we need to study further because the low figures are still there a year and a half after the oil spill,” Campos said in an interview.

He said other reasons could include, unregulated fishing, dynamite and other illegal forms of fishing.

P20-B rehab fund for Guimaras sought

By Nestor P. Burgos Jr.
Visayas Bureau
Inquirer, 11/04/2007

ILOILO CITY, Philippines—A militant national fisherfolk alliance has urged Congress to pass a comprehensive rehabilitation law for Guimaras Island after scientists reported a massive drop in the fish supply in the waters off the province.

The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya or the National Fishers Movement of the Philippines) called on lawmakers to pass a law that would set aside P20 billion for a 10-year rehabilitation program for areas ravaged by 2.1 million liters of bunker fuel that was spilled into the waters and shoreline of Guimaras after M/T Solar I sank off the coast of the island on Aug. 11, 2006.

“We hope the Senate and the House of Representatives will take this proposal seriously. The rehabilitation of Guimaras is a matter of life and death, not only among the people of Guimaras and Iloilo, but for the entire Filipino people. The fish need and food security of the people is at stake here,” said Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap in a statement.

Hicap made the call after marine scientists released results of studies that showed that fish supply in oil spill affected areas dropped by 65 percent. The drastic drop in fish supply was recorded in six monitoring sites in Guimaras from samples taken regularly during the days shortly after the oil spill and also in 2007.

(For the rest, pls. clickRehab fund.)

Guimaras fish supply down 65%

By Nestor P. Burgos Jr.
Inquirer, 11/03/2007

ILOILO CITY—Marine scientists have recorded a 65 percent drop in fish supply from the waters of Guimaras following last year’s massive oil spill that ravaged the island-province.

Dr. Wilfredo Campos, president of the Philippine Association of Marine Science (PAMS), said the studies that were conducted starting two weeks after the oil spill in August 2006 until this year showed a marked decline in fish population in the waters of Guimaras.

The findings of a research team headed by Campos was presented during the 9th National Symposium in Marine Science of the PAMS held in Iloilo City last week.

The studies showed a drop in fish density, biomass and diversity compared to the figures recorded in the same areas in 2001.

The fish density in Guimaras waters dropped from 1.5 grams per square meter in 2001, to 0.8 g in 2006 while biomass dropped from 26.5 g per sqm in 2001 to 9.3 in 2006. The fish diversity, or the presence of different species of fish, also went down from 48.2 in 2001 to 35.8 in 2006.

(Continue reading at Guimaras fish.)

Antique mangroves dying almost 2 yrs after oil spill

By Nestor P. Burgos Jr.
Inquirer, 10/23/2007

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — Mangroves continue to die on Antique province’s Semirara Island, almost two years after a massive oil spill hit there.

A survey conducted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) office in Western Visayas shows 895 mangrove trees in a 45.84-hectare area have died. The number of dead mangroves in Semirara is more than the 662 reported on Guimaras Island, where a massive oil spill occurred in 2006.

The Semirara survey was conducted from January 14-20, 2007, but the results were released only October 18.

(Read the rest at Antique mangroves.)

Philippines oil tankers given conversion deadline

Agence France-Presse (via Inquirer)
Oct. 18, 2007

MANILA — All Philippine-registered ships carrying oil in local waters must have double hulls by next year or face bans, regulators ruled Thursday.

The April 23, 2008 deadline would allow the Philippines to comply with an International Maritime Organization convention and prevent maritime pollution, Maritime Industry Authority administrator Vicente Suazo said in a written order.

Failure to comply would earn operators a daily fine of P50,000 ($1,136) and a two-month suspension.

The vessels would eventually be de-listed from the Philippine registry and their operators would lose their operating license.

The Philippine Petroleum Sea Transport Association, an industry group, estimates that converting single-hull tankers with a gross weight of 5,000 tons to double-hulls would cost $12-15 million each.

The move follows last year’s sinking of a tanker in the central Philippines carrying 2.27 million liters (500,000 gallons) of oil, causing the country’s worst-ever environmental disaster.