Mindoro calamity dislocates youth
Families in Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro are having a hard time providing for school fees and the daily expenses of their children, proving that livelihood and food provisions are not the only challenges facing residents as a result of the oil spill.
Several communities as far as Batangas face devastation after the sunken MT Princess Empress has been leaking its oil cargo off the neighboring town of Naujan for roughly a month now.
According to the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office of Oriental Mindoro, 23 coastal barangays, or 30,000 families in various municipalities have been heavily affected by the disaster.
On Friday, Senator Risa Hontiveros faced affected residents of Pinamalayan who clamored for financial assistance in addition to relief goods, as most of them said they did not have any money after their only livelihood from fishing was snatched from them by the floating pollutants.
“Until when can the government support us, how long can it feed us? We need jobs since we don’t know how long the oil spill will last,” Maritess Sagul, a resident of Pinamalayan and wife of a fisherman, told Sen. Risa Hontiveros who visited the hardest-hit towns.
The senator replied that the government will do its best to provide temporary jobs for the fishermen who were idled by the catastrophe.
A fishing ban imposed at the onset of the fuel leak remains in effect in Naujan, Pinamalayan, and Pola, among other municipalities.
Effect widespread
“Aside from livelihood and food, problems in ecology, health, and education have emerged. Where will the households that depended on fisheries get the money to give their children for schooling? The cash-for-work program must continue,” Hontiveros told reporters.
Further, she said, residents were worried about the length of the containment process fearing that it might be like the Guimaras oil spill that lasted four years.
“We are relying on the introduction of new technology to speed up the process,” she said.
Bernie Senorin, president of Samahang Mandaragat ng Banilad in Pinamalayan, meanwhile, said suing the operator of the MT Princess Empress, RDC Reield Marine Services, is being considered.
Aid filing starts Monday
Meanwhile, Oriental Mindoro Governor Humerlito Dolor on Saturday announced that the filing of compensation claims for the families affected by the oil spill in his province will commence on Monday, 27 March.
Unfortunately, he said, the processing of the claims will take a few weeks to a month, as he asked for patience and understanding from his constituents.
On Friday, fisherfolk in various municipalities of Oriental Mindoro sought to collect P500 per day per family from the insurer of the tanker.
More than 32,000 residents of the municipalities of Calapan, Pola, Naujan, Pinamalayan, Bongabong, Bulalacao, Mandalay, Roxas, Bansud and Gloria in Oriental Mindoro were affected.
The calls for aid were backed by the Bukluran ng Mangingisda sa Batangas, who expressed solidarity with the fisherfolk while raising the alarm over the trajectory of the slick which was moving west and northwards to Batangas due to the shifts in wind pattern.
Survey completed
Meanwhile, the operator of the sunken vessel, RDC Reield Marine Services, said in a statement that the remotely operated vehicle it had contracted had begun its inspection of the vessel and found 23 holes where the industrial oil is seeping out.
“The at-sea response continues with the ROV having completed its survey of the sunken wreck. Experts have identified points where oil is trickling out of the vessel, and specialized equipment is being mobilized to the work boat Shin Nichi Maru to help mitigate the pollution,” the company said on Saturday.
It added that “the suggested clean-up techniques by the independent oil spill expert International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited, including high-volume flushing and high-pressure washing of affected areas, were being implemented in Oriental Mindoro.”