Guimaras governor bucks no-fishing zone declaration

By Jhunnex Napallacan
Inquirer

CEBU CITY – The plan of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to declare the waters around Guimaras as a “no-fishing zone” would have an adverse impact on at least a third of the province’s population, Guimaras Governor JC Rahman Nava said.

In a telephone interview, Nava expressed concern over the effects of the plan on his constituents who are dependent on small-scale fishing for their livelihood.

Nava said the ban would affect the livelihood of 50,000 Guimaras residents. He said all of Guimaras’ five towns as well as 54 of its 98 villages are coastal.

“You will be talking about one-third of the population that will be outright affected on this. That includes the fisher folk, fish vendors, fish traders, transport sector. So the implications are plenty,” the governor said.

Nava admitted that he was surprised upon reading the newspaper reports because there was no prior consultation on the matter. He said his province should have been consulted because it is the one directly affected.

Nava said there was also no official communication from Malacañang about the decision of the President.

“Sad to say, there was no consultation. That’s why we’re looking into this. We tried to validate things. We will, if necessary, ask for some reconsideration,” he said.

Nava said he would conduct a province-wide consultation among his people.

He noted that commercial fishing is not rampant in Guimaras since most of the fishing done in the area is small-scale.

(From INQ7.net, Sept. 16, 2006.)

SBMI official: ‘No need to refloat Solar 1′

By JUM BALEA
abs-cbnNEWS.com

THE vice-chairman of the Coast Guard’s Special Board of Marine Inquiry (SBMI) said Saturday it would be best to leave the sunken M/T Solar 1 settled on Guimaras seabed if the oil inside the tanker would freeze due to the very low temperature.

“Sa baba ng temperatura doon sa ilalim baka nga tumigas na sa loob ng tanke yung mga langis na ‘yon (It’s possible that because of the low temperature at the sea bottom, the oil trapped inside the sunken tanker froze),” Commodore Benjamin Mata said at the weekly Kapihan sa Sulo news forum.

Mata based his statement on a report submitted by Japanese salvage experts that Solar 1 settled under 11 degrees centigrade water temperature.

He said that just like ordinary cooking oil, which freezes when placed inside a refrigerator, the oil inside the tanker would also solidify at a low temperature and cease from leaking.

Should the theory hold true, Mata said there would be no need to refloat the tanker or siphon the oil.

(For the full story, click No need, Sept. 16, 2006.)

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PSEUDO-SCIENTIST shoots off his mouth on something he has absolutely no expertise on. Duh.

‘Human vultures’ preying on funds for oil spill cleanup — solon

“HUMAN vultures” are out to get a slice of the fund intended for the cleanup of the oil spill in Guimaras, House Deputy Minority Leader Rep. Rolex Suplico warned local officials of the island province.

In a text message to reporters, Suplico said he got information that about 100 professional squatters from Iloilo City have arrived in Guimaras where they will pretend to be residents affected by the oil spill.

“These human vultures are asking Petron to include them in its cash for work scheme. Barangay officials should now certify who are the real residents in order to ferret out these opportunists,” the solon said.

Suplico said that public and private funds for the oil spill clean up should go to those who rightfully deserve them, particularly the fishermen who lost their livelihood because of the incident.

Congress recently approved the allocation of P2 billion for the rehabilitation of areas affected by the oil spill.

(For the full story, click Human vultures, Sept. 16, 2006.)

Everything is spilling except the beans

IN MY PACK By Ruth G. Mercado
The Freeman 09/16/2006

AS a journalist, I jump into the lake of fire to find out if it’s a lake. I step into a den of lions to find out if it’s a lion. I talk to shipmasters and oil smugglers to find out if it’s oil. In the aftermath of a three-page report, the Special Board of Marine Inquiry said loss of reserved buoyancy and stability caused oil tanker Solar I – with a load of 2 million liters of bunker fuel – to sink off the coasts of Guimaras on August 11. More than half a million liters of oil have spilled from the ship’s leaking compartments, but witnesses and authorities could not spill the beans on what caused the triangular gash on the ship’s hull.

In wrapping up its two-week inquiry, the Board gave three distinct causes for the sinking that included loss of reserved buoyancy owing to overloading, loss of residual stability owing to flooding and shipmaster incompetence. The shipmaster reportedly carried an expired chemical tanker license and failed to exercise due diligence in making the ship seaworthy.

Held liable for the tragedy are the tanker’s shipmaster, shipowners Sunshine Maritime, shipper Petron, the Maritime Industry Authority and the Coast Guard. But liability was not specified whether these are criminal, civil or administrative or whether all parties are jointly or solidarily liable for causes of negligence or fortuity. Still none of the five parties who have been held liable have spilled the beans so far.

None of the witnesses and authorities could explain why the ship was cleared to depart on August 9 from the Port of Bataan when it was overloaded or that its loadline was adjusted. While the Coast Guard has the final discretion on departure clearance it is unclear why the ship was cleared to depart when the shipmaster carried an expired license? Were there are other crewmembers who similarly carried expired certificates.

No one has spilled the beans on whether there was a clearing plan or if the Coast Guard had actually boarded the ship for inspection. If boarding was done, had the inspection team seen cracks or gashes in the hull?

No one has spilled the beans on where Solar I had come from? Is it true that the MT Solar I is also registered in Panama as MT Newhinase with gross tonnage of 499, and that the same vessel is registered in the Philippines with gross tonnage of 998? How old was the vessel when it was brought and registered in the Philippines? Was the vessel altered? And if altered, who surveyed the ship?

Shipmaster Aguro said they had taken shelter in Iloilo to de-water when cargo compartments flooded. What made him decide to sail and continue the journey? Had they detected oil leaking from the ship and that to cover up the spill, decided to sail?

The inquiry board suggests the triangular gash on the ship’s hull could only have been caused by metal touching metal. But no one of the crew has yet spilled the beans if the gash was caused by ship side docking, there was a vessel alongside or it was hit by its own anchor.

The Solar I sank 14 nautical miles off the coasts of Guimaras. The crew said they rode a life raft and reached shore less than 24 hours after the sinking. Mere paddling would make it impossible to reach shore in a life raft less than 24 hours. None of the crew has yet spilled the beans if there was another vessel that towed them to shore?

What caused the inquiry board to suspect oil pilferage or smuggling was involved were footages showing open cargo holds. As a matter of procedure, cargo holds are supposed to be closed especially in rough waters. If indeed oil smuggling or oil pilferage was involved, did Petron, Sunshine Maritime or the Coast Guard know of these nefarious operations? If oil was siphoned from the Solar I to another ship, what was that ship, where had it originated and where is it now? If only because it caused unspeakable disaster, would this suggest that a well-knit conspiracy of oil smuggling is rampant in this country?

To redeem its reputation, a Petron official claimed that it is the first to have chartered double-hulled tankers. But no one has spilled the beans on why local maritime authorities have not imposed double-bottom tankers nor is there strict phasing out of single hulled tankers.

While no one has yet spilled the beans, ugly black oil continues to spill out of leaking cargo holds from the sunken tanker scarring coastlines, marine sanctuaries and life.

Guimaras fishing ban endangers nation’s fish supply – group

•Production seen to drop by 240,000 metric tons

By Nonoy Espina
INQ7.net

A LEFTIST fisherfolk alliance warned Saturday that a fishing ban in waters around Guimaras and nearby Western Visayas provinces “might trigger a national fish crisis in the immediate future.”

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo decided to declare the fishing ban on the suggestion of British marine conservation group Coral Cay.

The ban will cover waters affected by the Visayas oil spill and is intended to allow nature to “replenish itself.”

However, the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said in a statement that the fishing ban would cause a drop of 240,000 metric tons in the country’s annual commercial and municipal fisheries production.

“About one third or 33 percent of the gross fisheries production in municipal and commercial fisheries in Western Visayas come from (the) Guimaras Strait,” Pamalakaya said.

(For the full story, click Fish supply, Sept. 16, 2006.)

Oil spill continues to cause ’sleepless nights’ for Negrenses

By Danny B. Dangcalan
Sunstar Bacolod

GOVERNOR Joseph Marañon Friday said Negrenses continue to have “sleepless nights” knowing that the sunken tanker, with more than 1 million liters more of remaining oil, may very well be a bomb ready to explode anytime.

Marañon maintained his stand to salvage or re-float the sunken tanker so the remaining bunker fuel will be safely contained.
Negros island though is still safe from the spillage as no oil spill sightings in Negros territorial waters have so far been reported as of Friday by the Provincial Task Force Oil Spill area coordinating center.

Tanker M/T solar 1 sank off the waters of Guimaras strait on August 11.

Marañon’s comment was a reaction to the reported stand of the National Government was to siphon the remaining oil from M/T solar 1.

Gov. Joseph Marañon wants to know when the remaining bunker oil of the sunken Solar 1 be siphoned. He said mere assurances from Task Force Guimaras are not enough.

Presidential Adviser for Western Visayas Rafael Cosculluela had informed Marañon of the siphoning.

The governor said he welcomed the information, but wanted a timetable for the siphoning.

“As long as that thing (sunken Solar 1) is out there, I am not satisfied (with mere assurances,” said the governor.

Holes could be drilled in the tanker’s fuel tanks through which tubes can be inserted to siphon out the bunker fuel. But the plan still has to get the approval of the International Oil Pollution Compensation, said IOPC representative Joe Nichols.

During the siphoning, “there is little risk of a significant release of oil from the vessel,” he added.

Nichols said the IOPC could choose between at least six companies from Norway, Italy, and The Netherlands to take out the remaining oil from the tanker.

The Philippine Coast Guard favors the siphoning. If the PCG-recommended Norwegian company – Framo Engineering – would be hired to siphon the remaining bunker oil, it would take at least one month for it to arrive in the Philippines.

The PCG recommended the Norwegian company, citing its experience and knowledge in handling such cases.

The decision to siphon was based on the video footage recently taken by the Japanese survey vessel Shin Sei Maru. The tanker, some 600 meters beneath the surface, appeared stable. with Ryan B. Lachica, Panay News

(For the full story, click Sleepless nights, Sept. 16, 2006.)