They don’t seem to mind the sun and slimy mud as they clean up Cordova’s coastline damaged by an oil spill.
A contingent of 50 policemen of the Regional Public Safety Batallion-7 based in Sibonga town helped in the coastal celanup of barangays Day-as and Buagsong.
Elsewhere in the town hit by an oil spill from the sunken MV St. Thomas Aquinas, around 150 soldiers from the Central Command of the Armed Forces of Philippines and 45 from the Philippines Coast Guard are also helping out.
“We treat this not just as a mission. I keep in mind that fishermen can no longer go out to sea and make a living because of this disaster,”PO1 Dennis Louie Castillo, 28, told Cebu Daily News
He said he finds fulfillment in doing something to save the environment.
“It’s difficult to clean during high tide since there’s a possibility that the oil will be dispersed,” he added.
Castillo with other personnel started to clean up at 6 a.m yesterday.
They wore PNP shirts, short pants, combat boots, rubber gloves, head gear, and face masks.
Their task is to deploy oil spill booms made of coconut husks and melt blown absorbent (material used in diapers) in contaminated coastal water.
They wait until low tide to gather the oil-soaked materials in sacks which they bring to a storage area, where the oil is extracted so the material can be reused.
It’s difficult to move around in the the thick mud, coral rocks and protruding mangrove pods.
“Matang-tang na gud among mga boots inig tikang kay mupilit man jud sa lapok [Sometimes our boots get pulled from our feet when the boots get stuck in the mud],” he told CDN.
Some volunters use their bare hands to pick up material and are exposed to potentially hazardous fumes from petroleum.
After four days of clean-up, Castillo said the oil spill is no longer as thick as last Monday.
Cordova’s 15-kilometer coastline has 12 barangays whose mangroves were destroyed by the oil slick that resulted from the tragic sea accident last Aug. 16.
MV St. Thomas Aquinas of 2Go Travel was carrying 120 liters of crude oil, 20,000 liters of diesel and lubricating oils when it sunk after a collision with Sulpicio Express Siete of the Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corp. in the Lawis Ledge off the coast of Talisay City.