Petron given 10 days to put up treatment site

ILOILO CITY — Authorities gave Petron Corp. 10 days to put up an additional treatment site to accommodate the increasing oil sludge being collected in the ongoing cleanup operations in Guimaras.

Western Visayas Presidential Assistant Rafael Coscolluela, oil spill incident commander, said the barge provided by Petron as temporary storage for the collected oil sludge is about 45 percent full.

"It will take about another 10 days to fill it to capacity," Coscolluela said. "So they need to come up with the decision in 10 days."

Coscolluela said Petron is eyeing six different areas which could serve as treatment sites for the oil sludge.

He said Petron is offering the plant of cement maker Holcim Philippines in Mindanao as one of the alternative dumping sites.

Coscolluela noted Holcim is also proposing to use the oil sludge as alternative fuel since it still has a high heating value or BTU (British Thermal Unit).

Coscolluela clarified Petron is not looking for a disposal site for the collected oil sludge.

"What they’re looking for is an ideal site where they could stack the oil sludge, and introduce bacteria that would decompose it," he said. The process is known as bioremediation.

Petron spokesman Carlos Tan said they are currently negotiating with local officials on the areas being eyed as treatment sites.

He did not identify the areas pending negotiations with the local government units concerned.

For the meantime, a barge is being used as collecting vessel for the oil sludge which is docked at the Cabalagnan wharf in Guimaras.

The Coast Guard has instructed Petron to provide a lining at the bottom of the cargo bay of the barge to prevent accidental spillage of the sludge into the sea.

They ordered Petron to cover the cargo with tarpaulin.

The Coast Guard also tasked Petron to provide a sheltering area where the barge could be towed to safety in case of bad weather.

A tugboat has also been placed on standby, ready to tow the barge if needed.

Petron Corp. has mobilized container trucks and equipment to complete the ongoing coastal cleanup operations in the oil slick affected areas of Guimaras.

They said its hired land craft transport (LCT) Carmen has already collected a total of 44 metric tons of bunker fuel recovered by cleanup workers in the coastlines of Nueva Valencia town.

The collected debris was gathered from major coastal villages of Cabalagnan, Tando, La Paz and San Roque. Coastal cleanup workers have also collected a number of sacks from San Antonio, a coastal village of Sibunag, Guimaras.

Combined factors

As this developed, investigations over the incident are already in full swing.

After the two-week investigation, the Coast Guard’s Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI) said combined factors — including bad weather, incompetent skipper and crew as well as overloading of the tanker — caused the sinking of MT Solar I last Aug. 11.

A member of the panel claimed the BMI has arrived with the initial conclusion, based on the information gathered during the hearings.

"I personally found that several factors contributed to the sinking of Solar I, and I think other panel members will have the same observation," the official stressed.

The same official said the BMI will also recommend the suspension of Solar I skipper Norberto Aguro for violating several maritime laws in steering the oil tanker until it sank off Guimaras.

The violations include navigating with an expired license, specifically on his Advanced Training on Chemical Operations certificate.

Aguro was only qualified to operate chemical tankers, not oil tankers, the official said.

Aguro denied any liability and insisted that strong waves — not human error or any wrong decision — caused the sinking of the oil tanker.

Before the investigation of BMI came to an end, the issue of supposed involvement of Solar I in oil pilferage was raised after the panel saw the video footage taken by a Japanese underwater survey firm.

BMI panel member Commodore Benjamin Mata said the triangular hole discovered by the underwater survey is possible proof the sunken vessel was used in alleged oil smuggling operation.

Mata said the BMI specifically focused on the hole on the vessel’s hull and marks below it, "which indicate there must have been a barge or small boat that came alongside the vessel."

The Coast Guard official also revealed one of the cargo tanks was already empty, foreclosing the possibility of pilferage.

"We have already submitted to Department of Transportation and Communications yesterday our findings and recommendation. It is now up to Secretary Leandro Mendoza to make them public," Mata said.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), on the other hand, said they are focusing on the liability of Sunshine Maritime Development Corp. (SMDC), the owner of Solar I, in violation of the anti-dummy law.

The NBI said they are focusing on the investment capability of nine officials of the shipping company, particularly on company bookkeeper Angelina Buenaventura, also listed as an incorporator.

NBI Acting Assistant Director Alejandro Tenerife, who is also a member of the Special Task Force (STF) on Guimaras, said he had entrusted acting Deputy Director for Intelligence Service (DDIS) Edward Villarta to lead the investigation.

Tenerife said the bureau was tapped by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to conduct further investigation and verify if SMDC violated provisions of the Anti-Dummy Law.

He said they have to verify if one of the five Filipino incorporators had the financial capability to help put up a shipping firm.

"We need to check the financial capabilities of the Filipino incorporators of SMDC, if they have that much money in the SMDC. If they are found guilty of violating provisions of the Anti-Dummy Law then we will file criminal charges against them as evidence warrants," he said.

Apart from Buenaventura, the other SMDC incorporators include four Japanese nationals and four other Filipinos. They are chairman of the board and company treasurer Hiroyasu Yamaguchi, vice president and board member Mototsugi Yamaguchi, president and board member Clemente Cancio, incorporator Dionisio Parulan, and board members Tomokio Tsubomoto, Hiromi Irishika, Robert Mena and Gregorio Flores, also listed as corporate secretary.

The DOJ panel said there are strong indications that the firm might have violated the Anti-Dummy Law for listing more foreigners in the company’s board of directors.

Sunshine was incorporated on Feb. 22, 2002 with a declaration that it is 60 percent Filipino-owned and engaged in coastwise trade, an industry reserved for Filipino citizens or corporations organized under Philippine laws.

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has issued a hold-departure order (HDO) against all SMDC incorporators.

Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez Jr. said he issued the HDO upon orders of the DOJ, which is currently investigating the oil tanker owners for possible criminal prosecution in connection with the oil spill in Guimaras.

Fernandez said Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez cited the alleged "strong evidence that the respondents violated the anti-dummy law." — With Edu Punay, Evelyn Macairan