ILOILO CITY, Philippines — Social scientists have recommended continued psychosocial monitoring and support for Guimaras residents affected by the massive oil spill two years ago after a study showed that most of them were still traumatized by the calamity.

The study conducted by former University of the Philippines in the Visayas chancellor Ida Siason, showed a "significant level of psycho-social distress" among 42 percent to 73 percent of around 250 survey respondents from seven highly and moderately affected barangay (villages).

The villages are mostly in Nueva Valencia town, the hardest hit of the province's five municipalities.

The study conducted in February to April 2008 showed a marked decline in the income of the respondents compared with the money they were earning before the August 11, 2006 oil spill.

While there has been some recovery of income levels compared with those observed during the containment and cleanup operations, these have not returned to pre-oil spill levels, according to the study, which was among those presented at the 2nd National Oil Spill Conference held here last week.

Around 2 million liters of bunker fuel were spilled on the waters of Guimaras after the cargo ship MT Solar I sank due to rough seas southeast of the island. The cargo ship was chartered by Petron Corp. and was transporting the fuel from Bataan to Zamboanga.

The oil spill contaminated a significant part of the island's coast and marine resources and ravaged the livelihood of thousands of residents mostly dependent on fishing, shell gathering and other sea-based sources of income.

The study also showed that at the time of the data gathering, few of the respondents said they were beneficiaries of any livelihood project that was set up in response to the disaster.

It recommended mental health interventions for the victims to be administered by medical, health and social welfare agencies.

But the study also showed a positive outlook and resiliency among the respondents in coping with their situation.

Studies presented during the conference said that while there were considerable efforts from all levels and agencies to respond to the disaster, government should improve the management of rehabilitation efforts.

A study conducted by UP Visayas-based social scientists Rosalie Arcala-Hall, Joseph Loot and Leo Quintilla said the disaster response frameworks of various agencies and task forces have been at odds and even competing with each other.

Rehabilitation efforts and projects of non-government organizations (NGOs) were not integrated with government plans especially in the provincial and national levels, resulting in conflicts.

In most rehabilitation programs including livelihood projects, beneficiaries were mostly left out or had limited participation in information gathering, planning, decision-making, implementation and monitoring of initiatives.

It said the rehabilitation efforts were carried out per agency and not collaborative, and were adversely affected by delays in the release of funds.

The study also cited the lack of inter-agency collaboration that affected the efforts of NGOs in the delivery of their assistance. NGO rehabilitation projects also paralleled those of the national agencies and duplicated many initiatives, including livelihood and disaster prevention projects.