Oil spill victims protest aid delay

RESIDENTS of Estancia, Iloilo hold a rally to protest the delay in government help. NESTOR P. BURGOS JR/INQUIRER VISAYAS

ESTANCIA, Iloilo—Residents still hurting from the effects of an oil spill that occurred just as Super Typhoon “Yolanda” was ravaging the Visayas protested what they said was the continued delay in help from government.

At least 200 residents, wearing black shirts, held a rally in the village of Botongon here as members of the House committee on energy conducted an ocular inspection of areas hit by the oil spill from a power barge owned by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (Psalm).

Psalm is a government-owned corporation that is managing assets of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) in the course of the full privatization of the power industry under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act or Epira law.

“It’s almost a year but the government has not even given us shelter assistance,” said Dionisia Buenaflor, a survivor and chair of the women’s group Hugpong ng Kababaihan.

More than 2,000 residents of Botongon were evacuated after at least 900,000 liters of bunker fuel contaminated the town’s coastline. They stayed for a month in an evacuation center due to high toxicity levels in the air.

The oil spill occurred after the Napocor-operated Power Barge 103 was detached from its moorings on Nov. 8 last year at the height of Yolanda.

The 32-megawatt barge, owned by Psalm, was dragged from its moorings 200 meters from the coastline and slammed on the rocky shores of Botongon. The oil spill reached the neighboring towns of Batad, San Dionisio and Concepcion.

Cdre. Athelo Ybañez, Coast Guard Western Visayas commander, said 80 percent of contaminated areas in 12 villages were “generally clear” of oil and oily debris.

None of the villages, however, gave certificates to signify satisfaction over the job done by Kuan Yu Global Technologies Inc. (KYGTI), the contractor hired for the cleanup task.

The House committee on energy is also investigating allegations of irregularities in the award of the cleanup contract, worth P87 million, to KYGTI, a company that had no previous record in cleanup jobs.

“It appears that the cleanup has not been completed,” said Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali, energy committee chair.

Kabataan party-list Rep. Terry Ridon, who was at the ocular inspection, said what he saw in the town was a reflection of what the government has done for victims of Yolanda—virtually nothing.

“During the ocular visit of the committee in Estancia, we have seen how schools and essential infrastructure remain in a dangerous state of disrepair,” said Ridon in a statement.

“Anywhere you look, it is apparent that communities have been given little to no attention by the national government,” Ridon said.

Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor decried the slow response and lack of equipment of the contractor and has threatened to sue the company.

“If you haven’t been fully paid yet, I urge you to just give the balance to the victims,” the governor told a representative of the contractor during a briefing.

Psalm released checks totaling P3.5 million to 202 recipients affected by the oil spill, but on condition that the recipients sign a waiver saying they are not pursuing any other claims.

Psalm vice president Elmer Cadano said survivors who filed a P225-million class suit against Psalm, KYGTI and other government agencies are excluded from the P3.5 million payment.

In their class suit, the survivors accused the agencies of negligence for failing to take measures to prevent the spill and for “inefficient” cleanup operations. They also accused KYGTI of “lack of capability.”

Survivors who took the payment received P5,000 to P40,000 for loss of income as a result of the spill. They were made to sign quit claims barring them from pursuing other charges against Psalm.

Cadano said Psalm officials would meet with those who had filed the class suit to discuss possible settlement of claims.

But the party-list group Bayan Muna said the selective release of the compensation was meant to push the complainants to drop their class suit.

“Eleven months after Yolanda devastated the lives of the people, they finally paid a measly amount relative to the damage caused by the oil spill,” said Wilson Balingit, former councilor and Bayan Muna coordinator.

“The compensation is a right and should not be a privilege that survivors should beg for from the government,” he said.