Enforce deal to protect VIP amid spill, environmental group urges governors

INSPECTION French experts have joined a team from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in testing water samples gathered from the shoreline of Pola town in Oriental Mindoro to measure the level of oil contamination from the sunken tanker MT Princess Empress, in this photo posted on the PCG Facebook on March 26, 2023. —PHOTO COURTESY OF PCG

Fisherfolk and community leaders on Wednesday called on officials of areas affected by the oil spill from a sunken tanker off Oriental Mindoro to enforce a deal that mandated provinces along the Verde Island Passage (VIP) to protect and conserve the “center of the center” of marine biodiversity in the world.

In a press conference, the groups led by the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ) urged the provincial governments of Batangas, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Romblon, and Marinduque to immediately declare the VIP as a “no-go” zone for fossil fuel projects and transport, and to reject all pending applications to construct fossil fuel power plant projects in the corridor.

They also called on the governors to ban carrying vessels from passing through the corridor, “because as long as they are allowed to do so, these incidents will keep on happening,” said PMCJ cochair Aaron Pedrosa.

“The provinces along the VIP corridor must act fast to prevent further devastation of our marine resources. Given the inaction of the national government, the provincial governments along the VIP corridor must join the people’s clamor for urgent actions,” he said.

READ: Oil spill reaches Verde Island Passage

These demands, they said, were in line with a 6-year-old memorandum of agreement that these local governments signed to protect the VIP’s rich marine flora and fauna.

However, the sinking of MT Princess Empress off the coast of Naujan, Oriental Mindoro, on February 28 has since caused grave harm to coastal residents who depend on the rich passage for a living.

The vessel was on its way to Iloilo province and was carrying at least 800,000 liters of industrial fuel oil when it encountered engine trouble and sank.

READ: Oil leak continues 22 days after tanker submerged off Oriental Mindoro

Still spreading

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), in a report on Thursday, said 13,383 liters of oily water mixture and 139 sacks of oil-contaminated materials were collected by its personnel during their offshore oil spill response operations.

It said at least 3,937 sacks and 22 drums of waste were already collected in 13 barangays in Naujan, Bulalacao, and Pola, all in Oriental Mindoro, from March 1 to March 29.

The United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said the oil slick from the sunken tanker was still spreading in the waters off Naujan and Pola Bay, according to a bulletin from the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute issued Wednesday evening.

The NOAA report was based on a satellite image taken at 10:15 a.m. on March 28.

READ: Over 19,000 Mindoro, Antique residents hired for oil spill cleanup

In a statement on Thursday, Oriental Mindoro Gov. Humerlito Dolor confirmed that the oil spill from the tanker had also reached Baco and San Teodoro towns, which are facing VIP.

Dolor said swimming and fishing were no longer safe in these municipal waters, as grease and oil were found in the sea.

Irvin Doraemon, a fisherfolk leader from Verde Island, estimates that at least 20,000 fishermen and their families were affected by the spill. He said they used to earn P700 a day, but many of them could not go out to sea due to the fishing ban.