AID RECIPIENTS Coastal residents of Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro affected by the oil spill from sunken MT Princess Empress receive food packs donated by Sen. Risa Hontiveros and distributed by Catholic social action arm Caritas in this photo posted on Facebook by Fr. Edwin Gariguez, the social action director of the Apostolic Vicariate of Calapan, on April 4. FR. EDWIN GARAGUEZ FACEBOOK PHOTO
More than a month after the MT Princess Empress sank off the waters of Oriental Mindoro and spilled toxic fuel oil, local fishermen continued to bear the brunt of the tragedy’s impact on their livelihood and the environment, different groups said on Monday.
A coalition of scientists and environmental groups that conducted research on the effects of the oil spill on the communities reported that the affected residents complained the oil leak and fishing ban “were worse than the COVID-19 pandemic” since they had been prevented from catching food for their families’ consumption.
In a statement, Berto Alinea, coordinator of the Serve the People Corps-Southern Tagalog (STPC), said the scale of the oil spill impacts was “immense,” adding that it showed the need for “immediate and more comprehensive action responding to the needs of the people.”
STPC is among the members of the coalition, which also includes Brigada Kalikasan, Advocates for Science and Technology for the People, Center for Environmental Concerns (CEC) Philippines and local organization Angat Kabataan Mindoreño.
The coalition’s research, held from April 1 to April 3, covered over 400 individual respondents from two municipalities and six barangays across Oriental Mindoro, which were not identified in the report.
“Over 90 percent of individuals do not earn enough to meet their family’s needs following the oil spill,” the coalition said as quoted by environmental group Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment.
Jordan Fronda, CEC research coordinator, said on top of environmental issues, residents have had to deal with little to no income these past few weeks, “causing trickle-down effects on their health and education.”
Long-term effects
He added: “The impacts of the oil spill and fishing ban are also long-term, so it is not enough to just give one-time assistance.”
MT Princess Empress, which was carrying some 800,000 liters of industrial fuel, sank off the waters of Oriental Mindoro on Feb. 28, causing a fishing ban in the affected areas and jeopardizing the livelihood of thousands of fishers and their families.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), which has been leading both the cleanup operation and the effort to plug the oil leaking from the sunken vessel, has so far collected 15,933 liters of oily water mixture and 180 sacks of oil-contaminated materials collected during its offshore oil spill response operations and another 4,706 sacks and 22 drums of waste collected for its shoreline operations in 13 affected barangays in the towns of Naujan, Bulalacao and Pola in Oriental Mindoro from March 1 to April 2.
Coast Guard Commodore Geronimo Tuvilla, commander of the Incident Management Team in Oriental Mindoro, said in a social media post by the PCG on Monday that their underwater bagging operation was still ongoing, having received assistance from the US Coast Guard, the Pacific Valkyrie, Phoenix International Holdings Inc., the US Navy’s Supervisor of Salvage and Diving, the Japanese survey vessel DPV Shin Nichi Maru, and oil containment experts from Japan and South Korea.
‘Lack of aid’
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, about 172,928 people have been affected by the oil spill.
While most residents have received aid over the past few weeks, nearly 100 percent of respondents also reported that the aid they received was “insufficient,” the coalition said.
“Ayuda (aid) packs would mainly come in the form of food, while other needs such as hygiene supplies for infants, money for allowances and transportation for children going to school were not addressed,” the groups emphasized.
They reported “widespread economic impacts and a lack of sufficient and sustained ayuda” for the affected residents.
“Civil society is doing what it can, but this is not enough,” the coalition lamented.
It added: “We need the national government to improve and hasten its response, especially in terms of addressing the socioeconomic impacts.”
The groups called on the affected residents to seek accountability from the ship’s owner, RDC Reield Marine Service, for the “grave” ecological and environmental impacts caused by the oil spill.
According to the coalition, their members would return to the affected communities to assist again in relief efforts.
They called for an immediate resolution to the oil spill itself, “as well as immediate, sufficient and sustained relief efforts from the national government.”