Since their product is involved: Petron admits social responsibility

PETRON Corp., which chartered the sunken Solar I tanker that caused the oil spill at Guimaras Island, admitted social responsibility over the spill that has affected over 3,000 families in the island-province. Jose Jesus Laurel, Petron's Vice President for legal and external affairs, told a joint congressional hearing yesterday that Petron has a social responsibility.

Laurel assured the members of the joint congressional committees on clean water and environment and natural resources that Petron would do "everything humanly possible to assist" all those affected by the oil spill and clean up the slick that has ruined marine life in the area.

"We at Petron, deeply regret this unfortunate incident and we have taken responsibility in addressing the containment and recovery of the oil spill on both land and sea, and more importantly, map out the long-term rehabilitation of the Island of Guimaras," Laurel said.

At the hearing, Senator Edgardo Angara asked if Petron recognizes the tremendous damage of the oil spill wrought by Solar I? Laurel said Petron was aware that it has a "moral obligation and social responsibility" because it was their product, which was involved.

"On the first working day that we have a meeting, all of these were assessed. Our chair and top management said that over and above the legal and contractual obligations and fault-finding, we have moral obligation and social responsibility simply because it is a Petron product and we immediately mobilized our people," Laurel said.

Angara also raised a question on the credibility of Sunshine Maritime Development Corporation, a company with a mere capital of P5.5-million, an unlicensed ship captain, and one which does not book revenues from chartering of fuel for Petron.

"There are many signs that this maybe a bogus, but actually a dummy corporation. That would have an impact on Petron because they allowed a disqualified and incompetent captain to drive the vessel," Angara said.

Jimmy Baban of the Guimaras provincial planning and development coordination office, said that the oil spill has affected a total of 53 out of 98 coastal barangays, and directly affected 23 barangays as fishes caught in the areas "cannot be sold in Iloilo and nearby areas."

Baban said a total of 3,918 families composed of 26,000 people, including 3,652 registered fishermen and 164 unregistered fisherfolk were affected by the oil spill.

Petron reported that the oil slick affected almost the entire coastline of the municipalities of Nueva Valencia, Sibunag and San Lorenzo.

Baban added the oil spill expanded to 320 kilometers of shoreline, affecting further 454 hectares of mangroves and 58 hectares of seaweed farms.

With Petron's admission of social responsibility, Angara said all those who have been affected would be indemnified.

Laurel explained to senators earlier that it has a $300,000-million indemnity fund from the Protection and Indemnity Insurance, and its partner, the International Oil Pollution Fund, which are both available for the use and reimbursements of clean up in Guimaras.

Under the cash for work program, Petron has increased the daily compensation for volunteers from P200 daily to P300 a day with strict policy on the wearing of protective gear.

Laurel recognized the failure also of Petron to immediately relay to the people what they have been doing to help contain and clean up the oil spill.

Apart from the Ligtas Guimaras program that has tapped the assistance of some 1,000 displaced fishermen, Petron announced that it has deployed substantial equipment including oil skimmers, oil spill booms, dispersants, and water-borne industry spill equipment (WISE) tugboats to combat the oil spill. Petron is awaiting the arrival of vessel Shinsei Maru, owned by Fukada of Japan, to be able to identify the exact location of the sunken tanker. It is equipped with a Remote Operated Vehicle, which has the capability to search the seabed down to 2,000 meters and take videos to determine the location of the ship and its condition.

Petron also tapped the assistance of environmental experts from University of the Philippines Visayas and Silliman University for the long-term rehabilitation plan for the mangrove, marine and fishery resources. It is also now using Radar-Sat, a Canadian space agency, for satellite maps of the area. Meanwhile, Bayan Muna Rep. Joel Virador said Petron Corp and the Department of Transportation and Communications and the Maritime Authority (Marina) should be held liable for the oil spill. "The government agencies mentioned definitely has administrative liability and even criminal neglect in this disaster," Virador said in a statement. He urged his colleagues in the House to conduct a probe on the incident to find out who the culprits are.

"Let us take into account that Petron is jointly-owned by the government with Saudiís Aramco. It is responsible for contracting Sunshine Maritime Corp. that is still using obsolete, single-hull tankers in transporting petroleum products in the country," he said.

Last week, the leadership of the House of Representatives pledged to provide funds that would be enough for the rehabilitation and economic recovery of Guimaras island.

"We will see to it that adequate funds will be made available, as needed," Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte, who is the chairman of the House committee on aquaculture and fisheries, said. The congressman made the assurance after Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya submitted to Congress the P1.13 trillion national budget for 2007. He added this will also be "on top" of any cleanup funding that may be included in the P46.4 billion supplemental budget.

"The new funding would be without prejudice to Petron Corporation's financial obligation to restore Guimaras and outlying areas to their pristine conditions prior to the spill," Villafuerte said in a statement.

At the same, senior House member Antonino Roman of Bataan urged the Senate committee on environment to approve the Oil Pollution Compensation Act that has remained pending in the upper chamber for more than a year now.

Roman, who authored the Oil Pollution Compensation Act, called on Senator Pia Cayetano, who heads the chamber's environment committee, "to expediently deliberate and pass the said proposed act." The measure seeks to integrate and implement the provisions of two international conventions - the 1992 International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage and the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation.

Meanwhile, Senate President Manny Villar has proposed to include P1 to P2 billion in the budget to fund the rehabilitation of Guimaras. "The priority should be in the cleaning up of the affected areas, plug the leakage in the still sunken vessel and provide alternative sources of livelihood to the people," Villar said.

While Cebuanos are still uncertain if the oil slick would affect the province, Governor Gwen Garcia reiterated her call for vigilance. The governor is still awaiting reports from the Environment Management Bureau of the DENR and the Coast Guard on their monitoring of the possible oil slick that may hit the northern part of Cebu.

Garcia said, there's no assurance yet that Cebu would be spared from the slick though reports assured that the oil sheen spotted last week in the waters of Madridejos were harmless.

Penro chief Glenn Baricuatro however said that Task force Guimaras chief, Capt. Luis Tuazon assured him that the probability of the slick affecting Cebu is very minimal since they have already contained it. Penro is also closely coordinating with the local chief executives in the three municipalities of Bantayan Island for monitoring and readiness.

Garcia also said, Bantayan folks may consider donating the booms they had made if Cebu will be assured of being spared from the slick.

Garcia will be flying to Bacolod on Wednesday to meet with the Visayas governors to discuss President Arroyo's supra-regions and to hand-over to Guimaras the P 5 million financial assistance of Cebu Province. - Philippine Star news Service with Vilma Andales/NLQ