DIRTY WATER This photo from an aerial inspection by President Bongbong Marcos and the Philippine Coast Guard on April 15 shows traces of oil in the waters off Oriental Mindoro more than a month since the fuel tanker MT Princess Empress sank off Naujan. (PHOTO COURTESY OF PRESIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE)
MANILA, Philippines — Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said that the House of Representatives will secure a P200-million cash aid for fisherfolk affected by the Oriental Mindoro oil spill last February.
The fund will come from the Department of Labor and Employment’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged / Displaced Workers program, which will distribute P24,000 to each of the 8,000 fishermenin Oriental Mindoro affected by the spill.
Romualdez, who met with the fishermen, said that the aid will be temporary, and that alternate livelihood programs will also be developed.
“Panimulang tulong lang ito na sapat sa dalawang buwan. Sa loob ng panahong ito, hahanap tayo ng paraan para makakuha naman ng pondo para sa mga alternative livelihood programs ninyo habang nililinis pa ang oil spill,” Romualdez said in a statement on Wednesday.
(This aid will be good for two months. During this period, we will find ways to fund alternate livelihood programs for you while the clenaup is ongoing.)
On February 28, the oil tanker MT Princess Empress sank, which caused an oil spill that affected the Tablas strait and fishing communities in Oriental Mindoro, Antique, and Palawan, among others.