DENR to work with shipping companies to avoid another oil spill disaster

Officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) meet with representatives of the shipping industry to discuss how to prevent another oil spill. Photo from DENR

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Thursday said that a technical working group would be formed together with shipping companies to identify possible policy changes in the wake of the Oriental Mindoro oil spill.

Environment Secretary Antonia Yulo Loyzaga met with representatives from the shipping industry in a bid to identify ways to avoid oil spills.

“Our commitment with them is that we will sit together and come up with a technical working group on the policy change that needs to happen with emphasis on prevention. We need actually to look at the legislation that needs to be updated,” Loyzaga said in a statement.

Loyzaga told the ship owners that it was important for them to identify the gaps in the system, whether in law, policies, function, or practice.

“I have discussed with them the importance of identifying the gaps organizationally, functionally, legally, and policy- and practice-wise so that we can prevent another oil spill from happening again,” she said.

“Among the gaps identified in the discussion were the classification of ships and the number of permits issued for specific purposes,” said the DENR.

She said that it was essential to reframe disasters, as most people tend to focus on the response aspect over prevention.

“We need to prevent the risk, and that needs to be translated in the policies, in the processes, and in the technical capacities of the people that are actually implementing these laws,” she said.

The oil spill in Oriental Mindoro began months ago, on February 28, and has affected the livelihood of locals and in surrounding areas. The disaster has prompted an inter-agency task force to handle the crisis, with the Department of Justice vowing that charges will be filed against those responsible.

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