Oriental Mindoro Governor Humerlito Dolor attends the Senate hearing on Tuesday, March 14, 2023 to talk about the massive oil spill in his province. Screengrab from Senate of the Philippines YouTube
MANILA, Philippines — Do not hide the truth, Oriental Mindoro Governor Humerlito Dolor said on Tuesday as he noted that the Philippine Coast Guard’s (PCG) spill booms, or floating barriers used to contain oil spills, are insufficient to contain the oil leak in the province which has reached parts of Palawan and Western Visayas.
During the Senate committee on environment, natural resources, and climate change hearing, PCG Deputy Commandant for Operations Vice Admiral Rolando Punzalan Jr. said they deploy spill booms whenever the sea is calm to collect and recover oil.
READ: PCG continues cleanup in Oriental Mindoro after oil spill
Dolor said that the oil spill woes are becoming “bigger and bigger every day” because the truth is being covered.
“Let’s be very frank in this hearing. ‘Wag natin itago ang totoo. Ang totoo, the problem is becoming huge, bigger and bigger every day. Bakit po? Tinatago kasi natin ‘yung problema,” Dolor lamented.
(Let’s be very frank in this hearing. Let us not hide the truth. The truth is the problem is becoming huge, bigger and bigger every day. Why? Because we are hiding the problem.)
“Commodore, nag-usap tayo. Sabi n’yo meron kayong spill booms. Pero tingin n’yo ba’t kinakailangan gumawa ng mga tao ng temporary spill booms? Because you do not have enough,” the mayor added.
(Commodore, we have talked. You said that you have spill booms. But why do the people have to create temporary spill booms? Because you do not have enough.)
According to Dolor, the PCG’s spill booms only span 250 to 300 meters.
Government data shows an oil spill along 55 kilometers of the country’s coastlines.
MT Princess Empress, a tanker carrying 800,000 liters of industrial fuel, sank off the coast of Oriental Mindoro on February 28.
READ: Oil spill ensues after vessel carrying 800,000 liters of oil sinks in Oriental Mindoro
A state of calamity has been raised in over 70 coastal villages in Oriental Mindoro following the incident, and around 102,000 individuals have been affected by the oil spill.
READ: Legarda wants ‘whole-of-government’ action to Oriental Mindoro oil spill