After the oil spill, what to do now

Letter to the Editor, Inquirer

THE oil spill off Guimaras reflects the insincere commitment of some corporations to social responsibility and the government’s failure to fulfill its regulatory role.

The oil spill should be properly called the “Petron/Solar 1 Oil Spill” to establish proper accountability.

It has been more than a month since the oil spill. The northeast monsoon (“amihan”) will soon start and this could spread the oil further to the south of Guimaras and west of Guimaras Strait, thus affecting more coastal areas. Current efforts to remove the oil spill from the beach merely provide cosmetic relief: the oil spill is only 1/10th of the Solar’s total cargo; the bulk of the 2 million liters of bunker fuel is still leaking from the sunken tanker at a reported 120 liters a day. Unless the remaining oil in the tanker is removed or siphoned, the cleanup activities will only expose villagers to health hazards.

The government and the regulators of the shipping industry are likewise accountable for the Petron/Solar oil spill. By giving the MV Solar 1 clearance to sail, despite clear violations of regulations, the concerned government agencies clearly failed to fulfill their responsibility.

We call on Petron Corp. and the owner of Solar I, Sunshine Maritime Development Corp., to:

. Expedite the removal of the MV Solar I from the sea or the siphoning of its remaining cargo of bunker oil;

. Desist from conducting workshops on indemnification and recognize the role of local government units and civil society to lead such processes;

. Indemnify the people of Guimaras for the long-term ecological damage, the loss of livelihood opportunities and the immediate and long-term effects on public health; and

. Uphold corporate social responsibility by adhering to the highest safety standards and ethical practice in their operations.

(For the entire piece, click After the spill, Sept. 26, 2006.)

Visayas governors to push tanker removal

BY CARLA GOMEZ
Visayan Daily Star, Sept. 26, 2006

PRESIDENTIAL Adviser for Western Visayas Rafael Coscolluela yesterday assured that the government is committed to remove the sunken bunker fuel on board MT Solar I.

He also assured that the rules on the use of chemical dispersants are being enforced by the Coast Guard to accomplish its goal of dispersing the tanker’s oil spill while still at sea rather than risks its reaching shore where it can become a bigger problem.

“If the dispersants are used according to guidelines the potential damage on the environment is minimized,” Coscolluela, head of the Solar Oil Spill Task Force, said.

The Oil Pollution Compensation Fund executive committee is meeting in London in October to come up with a final decision on when and how to extract the bunker fuel on board MT Solar 1 that sank in the Panay Gulf on Aug. 11, he said.

The IOPC is an inter-governmental group that provides compensation for oil pollution damage resulting from taker spills.

The MT Solar 1 sank with 2.1 million liters of bunker fuel, the bulk of which is at the bottom of the sea, while the oil spill it has caused has hit the coasts of Guimaras and Iloilo and is threatening Negros Occidental.

Negros Occidental Gov. Joseph Marañon yesterday said the governors of the Visayas are meeting in Manila on Oct. 4 where he expects they will come out with a collective position demanding the immediate removal of the sunken fuel.

It is the obligation of the owner of MT Solar 1 and Petron to remove the sunken fuel and we have the right to demand it, he said.

Coscolluela said the national government is committed to the removal of the sunken bunker fuel and is for its being siphoned out.

The Philippine government is, however, waiting for the IOPC to come out with its decision on the process, he said.

We will try to emphasize to them the urgency of the need to come up with some action before the change in the direction of the monsoon winds, he said.

If the IOPC does not come out with the decision for the removal of the sunken fuel then the Philippine government will undertake it itself, he said.

As to the alarm raised that oil dispersants will cause more harm than good to marine life, Coscolluela said “we raised such concern ourselves sometime ago and it has been addressed”.

As much as possible we do not want to use the dispersants but it was a choice between that or allowing the oil spill to hit shores and cause more damage, he said.

In order for dispersants not to be damaging to the marine life he said it must not be used in depths of 100 feet and near the shore, and the chemicals used must be accredited by the Coast Guard, he said. He said the dispersants are now being used at depths way beyond 100 feet, he said. If there were any other way to avoid using chemical dispersants we would do it, he said.

Bravo Petron!

THE P80M PR war chest certainly has come in handy. Imagine managing to infiltrate a major Philippine daily with its lies in the guise of an ‘investigative report’ by its reporters?

Notice how the paper’s stories on the oil spill only quote experts provided by Petron? Sad that it’s reporters didn’t bother to interview independent scientists or environmentalists, which could have given their report a real independent and investigative feel. (Yeah, WWF is an ‘independent’ environmental group. Not in the Philippines that’s for sure.)

You be the judge, readers. I’m not going to waste precious space on this blog by reprinting those Petron ‘praise’ releases here.

Btw, we hear the going rate for hacks in the employ of Petron is now P3000 a week, according to a blogger down south. No wonder these paid hacks are now sporting the latest fashion and audio trends on their person. Tsk, tsk, tsk…if only they knew how much their silence and slanted reports are actually worth. P3,000 a week…ang cheap nyo naman!

I hear the actual budget is P5,000 a week…of course, guess who gets to pocket the P2,000 difference? But c’mon you paid hacks, don’t you think your pro-Petron efforts should be worth at least P10,000 a week? Well as the blogger down south says…Greed makes you stupid.

CBCP head okays ‘boycott Petron’ calls

By Nestor P. Burgos Jr.
Inquirer, Sept. 25, 2006

ILOILO CITY – Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president Angel Lagdameo has called for the immediate removal of the remaining bunker fuel from the sunken tanker Solar I.

Lagdameo, the Archbishop of Jaro, said he was even “inclined to agree” to calls to boycott Petron products to pressure the giant oil company to expedite the removal of the oil and tanker.

He said the main concern, aside from helping the affected residents, was the removal of the vessel and its cargo from the waters of Guimaras.

“Our hope and prayer is that they will be able to remove the threat by siphoning off the oil and eventually re-floating the vessel that contains the oil,” said Lagdameo in a press conference here Saturday.

Lagdameo urged the government, Petron Corp. and the owners of Solar I, Sunshine Maritime Development Corp., to “come together and put their acts together to address this very, very important concern which threaten the lives of the people of Guimaras.”

(For the full story, click Boycott Petron.)

Enhancing Guimaras’ coral reefs through coral gardens

The Philippine STAR 09/24/2006

THE Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) is set to establish coral gardens in five areas in Guimaras this year, BFAR Director Malcolm I. Sarmiento Jr. said in line with President Arroyo’s directive to make the oil spill-damaged province another tourist destination.

Based on the underwater assessment conducted by the composite team of BFAR biologists and scuba divers last month, potential sites were identified in the coastal waters of Panobolon, Inampulogan, Guiwanon, Unisan and in Yato Island.

“BFAR will install artificial reef modules composed of 7 feet x 10 inches x 8 inches cement bars where branching or quick growing corals and coral-like species could attach themselves,” Sarmiento said.

In this way, the fish productivity in the area will be improved as coral reefs serve as nursery and breeding grounds for various fish and shellfish, he added.

According to Sarmiento, a total of P10 million has been earmarked for the project which was already incorporated by the BFAR in its 2006 calamity fund budget.

The introduction of coral garden concept was piloted by BFAR at Puntod Reef in Tangalan, Aklan where the coral cover was found to be devastated by destructive fishing activities such as the use of hulbot-hulbot and dynamite fishing.

Today, the live coral cover in Tangalan has significantly recovered and improved from 12 percent in 2002 to around 45 percent in 2006. Aside from contributing significantly to improve the fish landed by local fisherfolk, the project area is now a tourist destination with increasing number of foreign and local divers frequenting the area.

Meanwhile, 10 multi-purpose boats have been donated by BFAR to hardest-hit municipalities of Guimaras to address the urgent need for their livelihood.

Likewise, 50 units of bottom-set gill nets, 50 units of squid jiggers have already been awarded to fishefolk engaged in near-shore fishing such as shellfish gatherers, oyster and seaweed farmers who were adversely affected by the MT Solar 1 oil spill through the local government units.

BFAR has also turned over some of eight tons of oil absorbent material composed of abaca rope and scrap nets donated by the commercial sector that were used in the construction of oil spill boom in the province.

As a member of the National Disaster Coordinating Committee for the Guimaras rehabilitation, BFAR is continuously extending assistance to the oil spill containment and clean-up, and ensuring seafood safety by monitoring landed marine products.

A module of an AR made by piling concrete bars. A total of fifty modules were installed in the pioneering 10-hectare coral garden project in Tangalan by BFAR.

A BFAR-trained fisherfolk assessing coral development in the AR module a year after its installation in Tangalan. (Press release)

Evacuation continues due to oil spill

By Nestor P. Burgos Jr.
Inquirer, Sept. 25, 2006

NUEVA VALENCIA, Guimaras – The number of residents forced to leave their homes because of toxic fumes from the oil sludge continues to rise as officials quarantine the affected villages.

The Guimaras provincial social welfare and development office reported that the total evacuees reached 258 families or 1,111 persons as of September 20.

The local government evacuated the residents from five villages of Nueva Valencia and two villages in Sibunag.

These include 67 families and 326 persons in evacuation centers and 191 families and 785 persons who are staying with their relatives.

The evacuation started last August 30 after results of air samplings showed a high level of toxicity of the environment in the areas worst hit by the oil sludge.

The residents depend on the government and private donors for food.

Novelita Tayupon, 40, said her family receives 7.5 kilograms of rice and six cans of sardines as their ration for three days. She has four children aged 3 to 9 years old.

The officials brought them from their house along the coast of the village of Tando last week and transferred them to the makeshift quarters at the perimeter of the village plaza. Twenty-five other families stay in the plaza and in two tents beside it.

Oil debris now in Misamis

LUGAIT, MISAMIS ORIENTAL – An estimated 1,000 tons of oil debris collected from the coastal areas of Guimaras province arrived at the Holcim port here on Saturday on board two barges.

The oil debris were gathered from the Aug. 11 oil spill caused by the sinking of MT Solar I tanker off southern Guimaras Island.

Bobby Sajonia, vice president of British-owned cement company Holcim, told reporters that the oil debris will be loaded to the kiln burner.

The byproduct of the burning process will be integrated in the cement processing stages, Sajonia said. Richel V. Umel, Inquirer Mindanao, Sept. 25, 2006