Misamis Oriental town folk alarmed by substance spill on waters

Photo shows the bases of mangrove trees in Barangan Lower Jasaan, Jasaan town, Misamis Oriental, have whitened due to the spill of white substance from a sea vessel. (Photo by SABAS TAGARDA JR., chairman of Barangay Lower Jasaan, Jasaan, Misamis Oriental)

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Misamis Oriental, Philippines – Authorities on Saturday, Jan. 11, inspected a white substance discharged by a foreign vessel off the coast of Jasaan town in Misamis Oriental.

The substance caused some apprehension among residents.

According to information provided by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), a cargo ship began discharging the liquid in the afternoon of Friday, Jan. 10, but that it was only reported to hours later.

Petty Officer 2 Sherwin Emperio, PCG sub-station commander based in Jasaan, said the officials of Barangay Lower Jasaan, where the spill occurred, reported it to them at 8:05 p.m. Friday.

Local government officials alleged that it was an oil spill, but the PCG said it looked more like a cleansing agent.

“After receiving the report, we went to verify. We found out that it was detergent used to clean the ship’s deck,” Emperio said.

Sabas Tagarda Jr., chairman of Barangay Lower Jasaan, said they were alarmed at the incident, considering that there were fish cages containing thousands of milkfish fingerlings and a mangrove forest in the area.

Based on their own investigation, Tagarda said they were informed that the vessel’s name was Hugo, reportedly one of the cargo ships that delivered raw materials to a manufacturing company that used coconut oil as main ingredient in consumer products with its base of operation in Jasaan.

As of Saturday morning, the vessel in question has left the area.

Tagarda said the white substance stuck to mangroves, rocks, and sand along the shoreline and has allegedly affected the milkfish farm in Lower Jasaan.

“Some of the fingerlings have died. I advised the fish cage owners to harvest the matured ones before they die,” he said.

Tagarda said he has also told residents not to gather seashells or catch fish in the affected areas for fear that these could no longer be fit for human consumption.

He added there are four fish cages owned by private individuals, and each cage contains about 16,000 fingerlings, in Lower Jasaan.

On Friday, the village chairman said he had planted more than a hundred mangrove saplings and he feared that many of them would die probably due to the spill.

Petty Officer 2 Roy Sardoma, of the PCG marine environmental protection unit based in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, said that based on their initial investigation the quality of the water sample they took from the affected site was “normal.”

“We still have to confirm if the substance is toxic, although if you look at the water it appears normal,” Sardoma said.

Teodoro Bacolod Jr., regional director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Northern Mindanao (BFAR-10), said in an interview that he had dispatched a team of technical experts to investigate the spill.

Bacolod said the owner of the ship could be held liable if the result of the investigation would conclude that the discharged substance was toxic or had caused damage to the marine resources in the area.

“If the local government units have an ordinance on the illegal discharge of wastes at sea, then they can initiate legal action against the management of the said vessel,” he added.

Bacolod said they were coordinating with the PCG and local officials in the investigation.

In a text message Saturday morning, Mayor Redentor Jardin of  Jasaan said he had instructed the municipal environment and resources office to conduct a thorough investigation on the cause of the spill and give him a documented report that he could act “accordingly within 24 hours.”

/atm