Members of the Philippine Coast Guard check and get samples from an oil spill area off Rosario, Cavite. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA/INQUIRER
MANILA, Philippines – Environmental advocates on Sunday said the recent oil spill in Cavite was a repeat performance of the “worst maritime oil disaster in the Philippines.”
The Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE), on the 7th anniversary of the Guimaras oil spill, accused Petron Corp. of causing “a repeat performance in Manila Bay with yet another oil spill affecting several towns in Cavite province.”
On August 11, 2006, M/T Solar I, chartered by Petron, sank off Nueva Valencia, Guimaras. According to Kalikasan PNE, the oil tanker spilled 500,000 liters of bunker fuel in the southern coast of Guimaras, “affecting marine sanctuaries and mangrove expanses in three out of five municipalities of the province and even reaching the shores of Iloilo and Negros Occidental.”
The Cavite oil spill was first spotted Thursday afternoon. The municipal council of Rosario immediately declared a state of calamity after fishermen found oil sludge in their catch.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said they have yet to determine the source of the oil spill, if it was from Petron’s submerged pipeline or from M/T Makisig, an oil tanker that had recently unloaded fuel at the oil company’s Rosario depot.
Cmdr. Joel Garcia, head of the PCG marine environmental protection unit, said around 500,000 liters of diesel had spilled into the waters of Cavite, based on an aerial survey of the area.
“It’s the same story over again: fish and shellfish kills, affected coral reefs, and immediate impacts on the health and livelihood of coastal communities,” Kalikasan PNE said in a statement sent to media.
The group cited a study by the IAMURE International Journal on Marine Ecology which stated that damage by oil spills to ecosystems and the local fisheries sector may last up to two generations.
“Petron is claiming the situation in Cavite is under control, but coral reefs have reportedly been smothered by oil sludge, and reported fish and shellfish kills means the oil slick has also affected the functions of marine species,” said Kalikasan PNE national coordinator Clemente Bautista.
The group is hoping for an independent investigation of the oil spill, rehabilitation of the area and immediate compensation of affected communities.
Kalikasan is also calling for the closure of the Petron oil depot “to prevent future oil disasters in the area.”
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