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Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Wenceslao: Fuss about the oil slick
By Bong O. Wenceslao
Was it or wasn’t it? I mean, was there really a time when Bantayan Island was threatened by the oil spill from MT Solar I that sank off the seas of Guimaras last Aug. 11? I am asking this because it now looks like no oil spill has reached the Visayan Sea after all. So why is it that a few days ago we seem to be on the verge of panic mode?
Or are so-called “experts” merely seeing things? Example: oceanologist Rex Baleña, in a briefing of Task Force Guimaras in Malacañang last Aug. 23, claimed that scientists have observed that the slick was moving northward and predicted it could hit Bantayan in 10-14 days. Well, it’s now Aug. 30 and, anyway, it was but a prediction.
A day before that, environmentalist-lawyer Antonio Oposa was even more definite. “It’s not a matter of projection,” he said. “It’s a matter of fact. The southwest monsoon is pushing it (oil spill) up.” At that time, the oil slick was still wreaking havoc on the coasts of at least two towns in Iloilo province, or still within Western Visayas.
By Aug. 24, there were reports of oil sheen in the seas off Madridejos, one of the towns in Bantayan, and talks of fishermen finding bits of hardened black materials near a shoal. That prompted a meeting of the disaster coordinating councils of the province and the region. And Oposa, who was in Manila at that time, said, “manguros na lang ta ani.”
Two days later, what did we hear? “The worst is over,” Oposa said. He talked about the current changing direction, of the slick missing Madridejos by 20 kilometers, of the same slick dissipating as it moved toward Masbate and Biliran then out to Samar. Just like that. Meanwhile, a Coast Guard official insisted no slick ever reached Masbate.
Apparently, Oposa got his information from environmental groups like the World Wildlife Fund, which claimed that the oil slick has spread to the Visayan Sea. But no, Vice Admiral Arturo Gosingan said the other day. He pointed out that satellite images of the area had picked up not an oil slick but only a thin oil sheen that has already dispersed.
Actually, while Cebu is agog about the oil slick reaching Bantayan, I carefully monitored reports from national sources. There was never an official---by that I mean from government agencies---confirmation that part of the slick in Guimaras had broken off and headed for Bantayan. Was all the fuss here then all noise that signified nothing?
Of course, we don’t want any oil slick to reach Cebu shores. And we should prepare in case the oil does drift our way. But, ano ba talaga, kuya?
(khanwens@yahoo.com/ 0915-9228651/my blog: cebuano.wordpress.com)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (August 30, 2006 issue)
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