|
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Wenceslao: Battling the oil spill
By Bong O. Wenceslao
Cebu may pride itself of its popular Guadalupe mangoes, but in Western Visayas, the province of Guimaras is known as “Mango Country,” with 8,000 hectares of the small island used as mango orchards. For the uninitiated, Guimaras is located southwest of Panay Island and northwest of Negros Island, or is in the middle of Region VI.
Guimaras is composed of five towns and became a province only in 1992, breaking free from being a sub-province of Iloilo. Its people of some 150,000 rely on agriculture and fishing. And like the other tourist destinations in the country, the island owns a slice of paradise, with its white beaches and bountiful corral reefs.
The sight of islanders fighting off the “black scourge” threatening their natural resource is, however, replacing this postcard-perfect description of Guimaras. Bunker fuel from the sunken MT Solar I have dotted the seas and blanketed some of the beaches and corral reefs. The tragedy is that the tanker has some 2 million liters of the oil.
No wonder Guimaras Gov. Rahman Nava cried during some early interviews, apparently overwhelmed by the magnitude of the tragedy that has befallen his young province. But the worst is yet to happen. As long as MT Solar I is not lifted up, or the bunker fuel in its hold not sucked out, a bigger damage to the marine resource awaits.
Consider that, per Coast Guard estimates, only some 200,000 liters of oil have leaked thus far, and the destruction is already enormous. The slick has spread from Guimaras to two towns in Iloilo province and, with the sea current, may reach the northernmost tip of Cebu down to Masbate and Leyte. The possibilities are scary.
One positive point there is that the international community has already been alerted, raising the possibility that the country’s limited capability to respond to the oil spill will be boosted by outside help. Since this is not the first oil spill the world has seen, more advanced techniques in containing oil slicks and curing its effects are available.
This should benefit Cebu and nearby provinces because they will be given ample time to prepare for any inevitability. Hopefully, friendly countries and groups may already bring in containment and recovery equipment and dispersants and gelling agents to augment current efforts, some of them rather primitive, in battling the spill.
The key, of course, is awareness of the tragedy and unified action. We have seen how the residents of Guimaras are doing their best to contain the damage, but this, surely, is not enough. Everybody should contribute money, resources and warm bodies in the endeavor. This is no longer solely a Guimaras but is a Philippine, even a world, problem.
E-MAIL. I didn’t know Souie Mercado is already in the United States until he forwarded to me through e-mail Jim Paredes’ reaction to reports he has already given up on the Philippines by bringing his family for good to Australia. “Although we are away from home,” Souie said, “it does not mean we are giving up on our country.” Paredes’ letter to Souie is in today’s Speak Out.
(khanwens@yahoo.com/ 0915-9228651/my blog: cebuano.wordpress.com)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (August 24, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here.
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
