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Friday, January 13, 2006
Napocor to face charges over oil spill (3:30 p.m.)
MANILA -– The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is eyeing to file civil and criminal charges against the National Power Corporation (Napocor) following the massive oil spill in Antique.
“We are considering these charges following the December 18, 2005 oil spill from Napocor’s power barge 106 traveling then from Romblon to Mindoro,” said PCG Marine Environmental Protection deputy commander Allen Toribio.
He said PCG will coordinate with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), local government units concerned, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and other marine consultants to assess total damage arising from spill of bunker oil in waters off Antique province’s Semirara Island.
“We are also awaiting the final marine casualty report PCG Western Visayas command is now working on,” he said.
Toribio said Task Force Semirara is overseeing all matters pertaining to the oil spill incident.
“PCG is considering civil and criminal suits because residents in the area were affected and we had to undertake response calls to clean up the mess which caused massive environmental damage,” he said.
According to Toribio, the oil spill contaminated an estimated 40 square kilometers of marine waters off Semirara Island.
“Corals were damaged while sea grass beds which absorbed some of the oil were swept to the shore after dying out in the sea,” he said.
Toribio also said the oil spill affected about 236 hectares of mangrove area bordering the island.
Citing estimates of multi-sector stakeholders, he said about 80 hectares of such area were old-growth mangrove forests.
“The DENR and construction giant DM Consunji Inc. planted 156 hectares of the total damaged mangrove area,” he continued.
Toribio said NPC already hired on a contractual basis 50 locals to clean up the area.
“Due to extent of this spill, it will take about four more months before this work is finished,” he said.
Based on the work plan, total clean-up cost is estimated to reach some P80 million.
Since existing laws require each NPC power barge to carry pollution incident insurance, he said the amount for damages will be drawn from British Marine Managers of London through its local counterpart Pioneer Insurance Corporation.
“NPC barges were insured with the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) which re-insured these with the London company,” he explained.
Toribio added DENR and BFAR can likewise file against NPC separate charges for fisheries and environmental damages, respectively.
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