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Saturday, August 26, 2006
It's a national calamity: Arroyo on oil spill
MANILA -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared Friday the Guimaras oil spill as "a national calamity" and urged all Filipinos to cooperate in order to clean up the biggest and worst oil spill to affect the country so far.
"I am declaring the Guimaras oil spill as a national calamity that demands the cooperation and solidarity of all Filipinos. Let us do what has to be done first and deal with the blame later," Arroyo said in her speech at the convention of the National Prosecutors' League of the Philippines in Cebu City.
She also ordered Task Force Guimaras to work with the private sector and the maritime industry to put up drop-off centers all over the country for human hair and chicken feathers and ensure their speedy transport in order to absorb the oil in the affected area.
Food conglomerate San Miguel Corp. has committed to supply tons of chicken feathers daily while Reyes Haircutters has pledged a large bag of hair every day from each of its 2,000 salons.
The President said she received word that the location of oil tanker MT Solar 1, which sank last August 11 on its way to Zamboanga, has been pinpointed by experts. The tanker still contains 1.8 million liters of bunker fuel, which Petron Corp. ordered. Some 200,000 liters have been spilled in the Guimaras Strait.
Although the oil spill mainly hit Western Visayas, the President declared the state of national calamity to allow the National Government to use its calamity funds, said Tourism Secretary Joseph "Ace" Durano and Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, who both accompanied Arroyo in Cebu.
"It is a state of national calamity because of the ramifications of the oil spill. It cannot be determined at this time. For as long as the vessel is under sea and we have not re-floated the vessel or siphoned out the contents, the bigger disaster can still happen," Gonzalez said.
Arroyo has ordered the release of P20 million to augment the calamity funds of the affected provinces. Of the amount, P10 million went to Guimaras and P5 million each to Iloilo and Negros Occidental.
From Cebu, the President will head to Guimaras Island Saturday to see the damage caused by the oil spill and to talk with local and national disaster officials.
"(The) National Disaster Coordinating Council report in last Tuesday's cabinet meeting said about 3,000 families have been affected and most of them are fisher folk," Durano said.
He said Vice Admiral Willy Tamayo of the Philippine Coast Guard informed him that the bulk of the oil spill has been contained but because of the waves and the wind, "some escaped the first barrier, the first layer."
Some of the sludge has drifted toward Ahuyan Island, in the coast of Panay.
The President also expressed "deep concern" over the mounting health hazards facing the communities affected by the oil slick. She ordered health authorities to conduct a "meticulous and rapid assessment" of the situation and to follow these up with "prompt and sustained actions."
She said mobile hospitals will be set up and evacuation will be undertaken to ease the suffering of the affected residents and to save lives.
Meanwhile, thousands of affected residents in 21 barangays in Guimaras Island are planning to file a class suit against Petron if its fails to immediately clean up the oil spill.
Ambassador to Italy Emily Lopez, a former Guimaras congresswoman and the first governor of the province, said the people "are getting restless" over Petron's delaying tactics to respond to its obligations.
"They're running out of patience," she told reporters. "They have lost their livelihood and yet it seems the company is not doing everything to address the problem," she added.
The fisher folk group Pamalakaya and the environmental activist Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment have warned they will file a class suit against Petron for negligence.
"At first they were allowed to work without using safety gear like boots," said Lopez, who along with Guimaras officials accompanied Senate President Manuel Villar in an inspection of the affected areas in Guimaras Island.
The Philippine National Red Cross provided pairs of boots to the residents who collect oil residue from Guimaras beaches. Villar also distributed several pairs of boots.
Villar urged Petron to immediately compensate the affected residents.
"Petron should also increase the salary of the people knowing the fact that they have lost their livelihood because of the oil spill," he added. Petron used to pay them P150 a day.
Villar also said Petron should also immediately re-float the sunken oil tanker. "There's an urgent need to re-float the ship to stop the spillage. Damages will go up if we fail to immediately recover the ship," he said. (JMR/REC/Sunnex/KNR of Sun.Star Cebu)
(August 26, 2006 issue)
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