Things you can do to help Guimaras

THERE is a youth group which has put up a blog Save Guimaras in an effort to mobilize young people to help in relief or rehabilitation efforts in the island.

Heading this effort is Tuesday Gutierrez, who you can contact at email address: tuesdaygutz@hotmail.com or through chikka number 004367431. She needs our help in drawing up action programs to help the island. The provincial government of Guimaras can only do so much with its limited resources, but young people like us can organize and do more to help Guimarasnons face a better future.

Also, I went to a favorite salon today, Piandré along Timog Ave., Quezon City, to get my monthly hair and facial treatments, and was happy to note that it belongs to SOS Guimaras, the alliance of hair salons which have been gathering cut hair from their clients to send to Guimaras. The owner of Piandré even printed grey T-shirts with “SOS Guimaras” in big bold black fonts, to be used by the salon staff, and raise public awareness on the tragedy that has befallen this Visayan island.

While doubts have been raised on using cut hair to mop up the oil spill due to its long lifetime before decomposition, studies have noted its effectivity in absorbing slicks of this nature. What is most urgent is to clean the sludge, and we can all help out by having hair cuts. My appeal goes out especially to those with long hair. Mabilis magpatubo ng buhok, pero matagal bago makakabangon ang Guimaras kung di natin tutulungan.

Please go to Piandré, which has outlets in Quezon City, Makati, and Alabang.

What Guimaras needs is action right now, not just dead air rhetorics like our politicians. Get involved.

Writers’ group invites poets to extol Guimaras

By Hazel P. Villa

ILOILO CITY — After the environmentalists, it’s now the poets’ turn to extol the beauty of Guimaras, or rant and rave over what the August 11 oil spill has wrought.

The Fray Luis de Leon Creative Writing Institute of the University of San Agustin is calling on the country’s creative writers to come up with poems “celebrating and lamenting the beauty of the beaches and the seas around Guimaras, and other sea wonders in the Philippines.”

John Iremil Teodoro, the Institute’s coordinator, said the chosen poems will form an anthology with the working title, “Poems for Guimaras” to be published by the University of San Agustin Publishing House.

The royalties will go to the rehabilitation of Guimaras province now reeling from the effects of the Solar-1 oil spill, according to Teodoro, a Palanca award winner.

The deadline for submission of entries is on Jan. 15, 2007, with the book launching to be held in the oil-smeared Naoway Island, Guimaras on April 2007.

The poems may be written in English, Filipino, or any of the Philippine languages. Poems in the vernacular must be accompanied with English or Filipino translation.

Teodoro and a board of referees made up of nationally acclaimed poets will edit the anthology.

Submissions may be e-mailed to libroagustino@usa.edu.ph or iremil@usa.edu.ph.

Manuscripts may also be sent to the anthology editor at UCRP, University of San Agustin, General Luna St., 5000 Iloilo City, Philippines.

(For details, click Poets, Sept. 2, 2006.)

Sick families flee Guimaras villages

By JUM BALEA

THE National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said about 60 families in two villages in Nueva Valencia, Guimaras, which have been directly affected by the oil slick will be evacuated to a point 100 meters away from their seaside homes.

“There is high toxicity in the air in the area so the decision was to evacuate the residents [living within 100 meters from the shoreline] based on the recommendation of the [Department of Health],” Glenn Rabonza, NDCC executive director, said at a press conference in Sulo Hotel in Quezon City.

Rabonza said residents of La Paz and Cabalagnan, two of the 23 affected villages, need to be relocated since they are starting to get sick due to oil fumes.

Rabonza said NDCC has instructed Task Force Guimaras to assess the effects of the oil slick on other heavily affected villages. These include Dolores, Tando, San Roque, Lucmayan, Panobolon, Canhawan, Igdarapdap, San Antonio and Guiwanon in the town of Nueva Valencia.

In Sibunag town, the affected villages were identified as Alegria, Sabang and San Isidro.

“The task group is given one week to do that,” Rabonza said.

(Click Sick flee for the full story, Sept. 2, 2006.)

Slick now in Iloilo; threatens Sulu Sea

By Ruby P. Silubrico

ILOILO CITY—RESIDENTS who are living along the shoreline of Arevalo and Molo districts are now worried that the city beaches will be affected after the oil sludge has been spotted in six coastal villages here.

Winds blowing toward the southwest could also bring the oil spill in Guimaras to Sulu Sea in Mindanao if the cleanup is not finished soon, weather bureau PAGASA said Saturday.

Police Regional Office-Western Visayas director Geary Barias Friday confirmed the reported slick in Iloilo beaches based on information from the Philippine Coast Guard. The latter reported that two districts are affected by the spill: in Molo these are San Juan, Boulevard and Calumpang, while those in Arevalo, are Sto. Niño Sur, Sto Niño Norte, and Calaparan.

The residents noticed a brownish greasy substance on the water.

With this, fisherfolks and residents fear that their livelihood would be affected as well as the beaches.

The City Government, through Mayor Jerry Treñas quickly acted to prevent the oil spill from the sunken M/T Solar 1 tanker to reach the city’s waters.

In a press conference in Quezon City Saturday, Dr. Prisco Nilo, PAGASA deputy said, “Currently, southwest ang direction ng hangin…[it might] transport the oil spill to Mindanao.

He added that clean-up operations should be expedited since PAGASA forecasts no typhoon entering the Philippine area of responsibility this month.

The cleanup has been ongoing since M/T Solar 1 sank off the coast of Guimaras on August 11. The slick has reached neighboring islands.

Authorities said the vessel was carrying two million liters of bunker oil when it capsized and has released some 270,000 liters into the sea.

The Coast Guard, meanwhile, said an underwater probe sent from a Japanese survey vessel reported that the leak from the Solar 1’s cargo hold could be considered minor.

“The oil sheen that [is] being observed in the area of the [sunken] ship was only a thin line on the surface, which indicates that the release of oil is very, very minor,” said Vice-Admiral Arthur Gosingan, Coast Guard chief.

(For the full stories, click Sunstar and ABS-CBN, Sept. 2, 2006. Also Sulu.)

A dead child, a lost livelihood

By Hazel P. Villa

THE grief in the small bamboo house by the beach of Ali and Jocelyn Castillo was almost palpable as husband and wife struggled to explain how they lost their youngest and only son to an asthma attack on Monday.

The child’s condition might have been aggravated by fumes from the bunker fuel oil that washed on the shores of the island in the morning of Aug. 12, a day after the tanker MT Solar 1 ran aground off southern Guimaras.

The couple grieves for Alejandro, 2 years and 3 months old, whom they lovingly called Toto Pogi.

The boy arrived dead at the Guimaras Provincial Hospital at 7:30 a.m. of Aug. 28, even as his father did his best to bring him to the hospital in an hour-and-a-half trip by boat and motorcycle from Naoway.

Ali left the house at 5 a.m. that day to try to catch fish and returned an hour later to shouts of “Si Toto! Si Toto!” His wife thrust the barely breathing boy at him.

Neighbors awakened by the shouting put the Castillos on the motorboat that sailed to Kupo Wharf in Barangay Sabang, Sibunag town so that they could proceed to the hospital in the capital town of Jordan.

“I was supposed to join them going to the hospital, but I moved so slowly and my swollen tummy was already aching. Ali had to leave me behind,” said Jocelyn, who was due to give birth to her fourth child on Sept. 5 .

Bantay Dagat member Eduardo Pelingon, also a resident of the island, had already sent a short message to the ambulance driver of Sibunag town to expect Ali along the way.

(Click Toto Pogi, for the full story, Sept. 2, 2006.)

Spill turns away competitors from swim fest

•160 participants in 2005 down to 12 this year

By Hazel P. Villa

ILOILO CITY—In the aftermath of the country’s worst oil spill on Aug. 11, only a few brave men will dare swim the Guimaras-Iloilo Strait.

From 160 swimmers in 2005, only 12 registered for the 3rd Kayaba Guimaras-Iloilo Cross Channel Swim scheduled this Sept. 9.

“It used to be that we had to turn away participants from joining, but now we have to beg swimmers to participate. They have been turned off by the oil spill and the advisory of the Department of Health,” said Jay Balnig, a radio commentator and project director of Kayaba.

Of the 12 who registered for this year’s swim, three were from Guimaras and the rest were from Iloilo City and province.

Aksyon Radyo, of the Manila Broadcasting Company, that organizes the sporting event endorsed by the Department of Tourism was forced to move the registration deadline to Sept. 6 or three days before the actual competition.

The Kayaba Guimaras-Iloilo Cross Channel Swim drew 180 swimmers when it was launched in 2003.

The participants have to swim 4.2 nautical miles from Buenavista Wharf in Guimaras to the polluted Iloilo River across the Iloilo Strait.

This year, the open cross channel swim will only be 1.7 nautical miles from Guimaras’ Jordan Wharf to the cleaner Fort San Pedro Wharf in Iloilo City.

And still, swimmers say no.

(Click Swim fest for the full story, Sept. 2, 2006.)

Ex-worker of Petron parts with hair for Guimaras

By Vincent Cabreza

BAGUIO CITY—Writer Tina Gallardo worked for Petron Corp. as a training officer so she had access to her former superiors when the oil slick that hit the waters of Guimaras made the headlines.

Gallardo said they had no idea how they could save Guimaras’ turtles and marine life.

Inspired by stories about convicts offering their hair for the clean up effort, Gallardo returned to this city and sent out text messages to invite people to join her to shave her head.

About six people, all strangers, answered her plea and came to a local branch of David’s Salon on Thursday.

Most of them were aware of news reports that cite the high absorptive quality of hair and feathers in separating crude oil from water. But there are scientists who fear that hair could later become an environmental problem because of their slow rate of decomposition.

Gallardo said the presence of friends and strangers at her shaving-off session was a good sign.

“I hope more people would take part [in the clean-up efforts]. Guimaras needs the whole country,” she said.

Two salon stylists took only four minutes to shave her hair, which falls past her shoulders.

Gallardo managed to keep her smile for her laptop’s built-in camera, which she set up by her side to document her sacrifice.

“It took me three years to grow my hair, but it takes 10 times that to grow corals. I’ve never done this before, but I want people to know that every inch counts to save Guimaras,” she said.

“I have been there, you see. It is so beautiful and yet its people are so poor…. These are white sand areas, you know, so we have to do everything we can to help the clean up [of the oil slick],” she told Gary Buenavista, one of the people who responded to the text invitations.

(Click Hair for the entire story, Sept. 2, 2006.)

For your reading (dis)pleasure

FOR those who want to know what Petron officials and the government executives are doing about the oil spill, a web site has been set up, claiming (of course!) that Petron reacted swiftly in dealing with the disaster, listing total man-days spent to clean up the spill (without mentioning that the workers are being paid below minimum wage), its so-called relief efforts, and how much insurance will save the company from actually spending its own money for the cleanup.

As per the site, the company still has no rehabilitation program for Guimaras and other provinces devastated by the oil spill. Oh and get a load of a satellite map of the sites not affected by the oil spill. Interesting wot?

The site likewise lists Petron Foundation as a recipient for those interested in helping Guimaras. I personally believe that Petron has more than enough money to pay for relief efforts and its still-absent rehabilitation program. (To the credit of Petron employees, they managed to raise over P300,000 to help fund their company’s relief efforts. Shame on you Nick Alcantara!)

Forget Petron, instead I enjoin everyone to kindly send your cash contributions direct to the government of Guimaras via LandBank or protective clothing and other materials to the Visayas Sea Squadron. (See blog post on Aug. 30, What you can do)

For more of Petron’s version of reality, click here at your own risk. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Guimaras resorts affected by the oil spill

HERE’s a list of the affected resorts, courtesy of Project Sunrise, a web site set up by the provincial government of Guimaras and CIDA.

Contrary to President Arroyo’s pronouncement, the list shows 15, not 7, resorts affected by the oil spill.

resorts82106.pdf

Guimaras will take ‘decades’ to rehabilitate–Greenpeace

GREENPEACE vessel, M.V. Esperanza, is in Cebu for its last stop before it will leave the country as part of its “Defending our Oceans” expedition.

Before coming to Cebu, the vessel visited Guimaras and helped the Philippine Coast Guard and other organizations in cleaning the island-province and other parts of the Visayas that were affected by the oil slick brought about by the sinking of MV Solar I in the seawaters off Guimaras.

Scientists onboard Esperanza claimed their early response to the oil spill in Guimaras has been crucial in helping focus the world’s attention on the massive environmental catastrophe.

Janet Cotter, of the science unit of Greenpeace, said that the oil spill has done a lot of damage to Guimaras’ marine resources that would take decades to rehabilitate.

She said that aside from helping in the cleanup, they also do information and fund raising campaign to help the affected residents and for the immediate cleanup of the affected areas. The group, she said, is focused on preserving marine reserves like the Taclong Marine Reserve.

Aside from Taclong, Cotter said that three other marine reserves in Guimaras were affected, adding that coral reefs, seagrasses and mangroves are covered by slick.

(For the full story, click Freeman, Sept. 2, 2006.)

Amihan ’saves’ Cebu

THE SOUTHERN BEAT
By Rolly Espina

THE finding last Thursday that the sunken MT Solar I was in an upright position and leaning slightly on its right side lifted up the spirits of those engaged in the relief operation in the Guimaras oil spill.

But the more important thing was the discovery about the seepage of the bunker fuel, which means that coastal watchers cannot relax their guard. The oil slick, as last reported by Guimaras Gov. JC Rahman Nava, was spotted in southern Negros towns, drifting toward the Sulu Sea.

In short, as pointed out by lawyer Antonio Oposa, Visayan Sea Squadron head, the wind direction changed from habagat to amihan. That arrested the slick’s drift toward the north end of the Visayan Sea. Besides, as he added during the meeting of Visayas Mega Region governors at the provincial Capitol in Bacolod, the bulk of what they had worried about lapped up on the coastlines of four Iloilo towns.

Capt. Luis Tuason, Western Visayas PCA commander, said the finding of Shinsei Maru shortened the time in surveying the area. The ship was located some 200 meters from its last reported location.

And there were some positive news. The tanker’s upright position shows that it would be easier to assess the damage and the oil leakage than if the boat were upside down.

(Click Espina for the rest of the column published Sept. 2, 2006.)

What’s with GMA’s people?

By JA Dela Cruz

INDEED, what’s with PGMA’s people? Instead of clearing the air on the issues hounding the administration and helping her ride the storm, they seem to be outdoing each other pulling her down even more. Take the case of DOST Undersecretary Graciano Yumul Jr. who was quoted some days back as having said that the impact of the Guimaras oil spill has been blown out of proportion. Coming as it did after all known environmental and maritime experts declared the spill as the country’s worst oil disaster and just days after PGMA herself declared it as a “national emergency,” Yumul’s statement is at best gratuitous if not contemptible.

Try telling that to the displaced fisher folks who have had to make do with daily doles to keep body and soul together after their fishing grounds turned black from the spill. Try telling that to the resort owners who now have to pay off loans on newly constructed facilities and will have to look for other means of livelihood while the sea regenerates which may take five years at best. Try telling that to the mothers and their kids who have had to endure the foul air and other hazards as they help clean out the gooey black liquid sticking like leeches to the mangroves and the coral formations sticking out of the blackened waters.

Indeed, if Yumul is convinced that the oil spill is not the disaster which almost all experts and the people directly affected by it believe it is, then he should be conscripted by PGMA to lead the clean-up.

Perhaps Yumul just wanted to help divert public criticism away from his boss and other senior officials who have been trying their very best to lessen the ridicule and the outcry which have accompanied their unenthusiastic response to the emergency. Just like Petron’s top honchos who have tried to downplay the disaster’s impact and their principal responsibility as cargo owner and shipper-of-record by unduly repeating that tired and unavailing line of “moral but not legal responsibility” over the oil spill.

Administration do-gooders should be more circumspect and sensitive in their public statements. If they have nothing better to say other than gratuitously saying that everything will come out better in time then just shut up.

(Click JA Dela Cruz for the rest of the column, Sept. 2, 2006.)

Japanese owners of Sunshine close office

GOVERNMENT yesterday barred the officers of Sunshine Maritime Development Corp., owner of the sunken oil tanker Solar 1, from leaving the country while investigations are ongoing.

But Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, who issued the order, at the same time said officials cannot enforce the order against the Sunshine stockholders, including its four Japanese incorporators, because no cases have been filed against them over the oil spill resulting from the sinking of Solar 1.

Gonzalez did not explain why he issued the order which he himself considered unenforceable.

Covered by the hold-departure order were Mototsugu Yamaguchi, Hiroyasu Yamaguchi, Tomoki Tsubomoto, Hiromi Irishika and their Filipino partners Dionisio Parulan, Gregorio Flores, Clemente Cancio, Roberto Mena and Angelita Buenaventura.

“They used to be just under the watchlist, but now I issued an HDO because they have closed their local office. They can’t be located by our process servers,” he said.

Gonzalez said the incorporators of Sunshine Maritime could be held liable for civil damages in connection with the oil slick that adversely affected the livelihood of residents of Guimaras and neighboring provinces.

(Click Malaya, Sept. 2, 2006, for the full story.)