Guimaras marine life still struggling

By Nestor P. Burgos Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
11/27/2008

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — The oil sludge may not be visible anymore but scientists say the damage to marine resources of Guimaras Island has persisted two years after a massive oil spill ravaged the island.

The scientific studies showed abnormalities in the breeding and growth of mangroves, sea grass, marine animals and sea cucumbers, and attributed these mainly to the contamination of the marine environment by bunker fuel from the sunken M/T Solar I.

The studies, presented Thursday during the opening of the two-day Second National Conference on Solar I Oil Spill, showed the marine resources still suffered from stress brought by the contamination despite showing signs of recovery. (Click here for the rest.)

UP Visayas hosts nat’l oil spill conference

Visayan Daily Star
Nov. 27, 2008

The University of the Philippines-Visayas will host a two-day national conference starting today on the updates of the impact of the Solar 1 oil spill in Guimaras more than two years ago.

The gathering, themed “Two Years After the Solar 1 Oil Spill: Where Are We?”, will be held at the Auditorium of UPV Iloilo City campus.

Organized under the Oil Spill Response Program, the conference will be participated by the Core University Program, UPV and Kagoshima University Faculty of Fisheries, the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science-Department of Science and Technology, and the Province of Guimaras. (Read the rest here.)

Local tourists top arrivals in Guimaras

By Maricar M. Calubiran
The News Today
Nov. 17, 2008

Local excursionists top the list of visitors in the island-province of Guimaras numbering to more than 100,000 for the past 10 months of the year. Tourism is one of the island’s industries aside from its agriculture.

In the records provided by the Guimaras Tourism Office, the number of local excursionists posted a high record in March with 20,774 visitors. Visitors also registered high records in the months of April and May. In April, there were 14,397 visitors and 11,231 in May. The number of tourist arrivals contributed thousands of pesos in total receipts. The months of March, April and May are considered as summer months and mostly people prefer to go to resort and beaches. (Click here for the rest.)

Probe eyed on Guimaras spill reparation mess

GMA News.TV
Oct. 27, 2008

MANILA, Philippines – A congressional investigation looms on alleged government inaction over insufficient reparation for victims of a massive oil spill in Guimaras in 2006.

Online news site The News Today (www.thenewstoday.info) reported that House Resolution 830 filed last Oct. 8 seeks a probe into the payments by an international insurance firm.

Filing the resolution were party list Reps. Satur Ocampo and Teodoro Casiño of Bayan Muna, Luzviminda Ilagan and Liza Maza of Gabriela, and Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis. (Click here for the rest.)