CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro (PIA) – In a recent meeting of the oil spill Incident Command System (ICS), Philippine Coast Guard Commodore Geronimo B. Tuvilla, ICS Incident Commander, said that the Harbor Star needs to speed up the cleaning of oil spill wastes along the shorelines of the province.
He said that these wastes might be washed up and drift towards Verde Island Passage, the global center of marine biodiversity, when the wind pattern changes consistent with the coming of the warm and dry season and the weakening of the northeast monsoon.
Harbor Star Shipping Services is commissioned by the RDC Reield Marine Services, owner of the ill-fated MT Princess Empress, to clean up the spilled oil that now affects southern municipalities in Oriental Mindoro.
Tuvilla’s statement echoed the report of the University of Philippines Marines Science Institute which says that by March 16 or the soonest time possible, the weakening of the northeast monsoon will cause the possibility that oil spill wastes to change direction northwards and may affect particularly the shorelines of Tingloy, Batangas.
Since the MT Princess Empress oil tanker sank, the direction of the winds is southward of Oriental Mindoro affecting the shorelines of the towns of Naujan, Pola, Pinamalayan, Gloria, Bongabong, Roxas, Mansalay, and Bulalacao paralyzing the livelihoods of the fisherfolks in the areas.
PCG Commodore Geronimo B. Tuvilla leads the planning activities to further contain the widespread oil spills during the meeting with all concerned agencies at ICS in Pola, Oriental Mindoro. (Photo credit: Oriental Mindoro PIO)
About 50 barangays in Oriental Mindoro were affected by the oil spill in the few days following the incident. Now only 12 barangays are affected due to the immediate response and mitigation actions taken by the LGUs, national government agencies, and local residents. (LTC/PIA-OrMin)
Photos above credit to Oriental Mindoro PIO
