Lessons from the oil spill

By JESSA ZABALA, RAFI intern
September 6, 2013

CEBU CITY – Several years after the dreadful Guimaras oil spills, another incident of similar breadth is happening in the Visayas, in Cordova’s coastal area near Talisay City. The oil slick is reported to have reached Lapu-Lapu City.

“The oil spill caused by the collision of the passenger vessel MV St. Thomas Aquinas and cargo vessel Sulpicio Express Siete in the seas of Cordova is the very first recorded incident in Central Visayas,” Dr. Edgar Llameda, information officer of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7, said during an episode in "Pagtuki", the official radio program of Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI).

Last August 16, 2013, the two marine vessels collided resulting to the oil spill in Cordova’s seas. The passenger vessel MV St. Thomas Aquinas carries with it 120 liters of crude oil and 20,000 liters of diesel.

Approximately 5,000 fishermen were affected. Consumers from the neighboring barangays, after hearing about the incident, became hesitant to buy seafood products for fear of contamination.

The affected area in Cordova included 15 kilometers of coastline where 12 barangays are located. Hectares of mangrove were also affected by the oil spill, not to mention other marine species.

The most damaged mangrove plantation is in Barangay Bang-bang where 76 hectares was affected.

“Right now, we are preparing the demand letter of P6.5 million damage compensation for the affected newly planted mangroves that are enrolled in our Integrated Coastal Resource Management (ICRM) Project,” Llameda disclosed.

The ICRM Project, where the Philippine Government has a counterpart, gained funds through the loan granted by the Asian Development Bank.

To help in reviving the damaged area, people’s organizations in Cordova, together with the DENR 7 conducted a coastal cleanup where oil in the coastlines was collected.

“We from DENR, through the Environmental Management Bureau, can accredit certain corporations or individuals to handle these hazardous wastes. Last Sunday (Aug. 25), one of our treatment storage disposal holders provided us with empty drums to gather the collected oil,” Llameda further explained.

According to him, it would be better for those who would like to join the cleanup to have protective gears like hand gloves, face masks, and boots.

“Our fishermen started catching fish again but no one would buy because many have died during the accident. So as an example, last August 30, we from the municipal hall ate fish for lunch,” Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy shared.

Because the damage done to the coastal area was huge, its restoration process would also take long. The local government made plans on giving training for alternative livelihood to those who would like to quit fishing and for the wives of fishermen.

“We just have to make efforts. This is a challenge to the whole Cordova on how we could survive,” Sitoy said as a message to his constituents.

For the cleanup of the coastal areas, indigenous materials such as coconut husks are encouraged as oil dispersants because they can decompose faster. Cement plants could use the collected oil as fuel.

“As precautionary measures, we could focus on our rescue and retrieval operations. Second is organizing and convening our treatment, storage and disposal (TSD) holders because they are the ones capable of handling, storing, disposing, and collecting the wastes produced by an oil spill,” Llameda stressed.

The current situation is something unforeseen by most people. The collision of the marine vessels is something that doesn’t happen normally.

“The situation pertaining to us is we see that the perception is based on fear. One way to address that is to educate ourselves on what really happened so it is really important that we listen to the radio or watch television for advisory from the DENR, DOH and other local government units,” Evelyn Navario-Castro, executive director of RAFI's Eduardo J. Aboitiz Development Studies Center, urged.

The government already has plans of establishing emergency response units specialized in handling certain situations such as oil spills. This way, they will be able to give a quick response that could help lessen the perceived damages of such calamities.