Cavite oil spill nearly gone - guv

MANILA, Philippines - Only 1 to 2 percent of the leaked diesel is yet to be cleaned up in Rosario, Cavite following the Petron oil spill that affected 50 square kilometers of water, Governor Jonvic Remulla said.

"Yung sheen na lang on top of the water and very few areas, nag-evaporate na halos lahat," Remulla said in a television interview Wednesday.

The Philippine Coast Guard, however, initially estimated about 500,000 liters of diesel fuel spread to 300 square kilometers near four coastal towns in Cavite.

The leak was found to be from an underwater pipe of oil company Petron Corp., which has issued an apology to the affected communities.

Even when the waters have been cleared of fuel, local residents will still feel its effects in land, Remulla said.

"A lot of the remaining effects would be on the shore. If the diesel is left on the sand and the children play there, iyon ang mas delikado but Petron has taken bioremedial efforts by spraying organic degreasers to eat up the remaining diesel on shore," he said.

Remulla believes Rosario is still "fortunate" that it was refined oil that hit its shores and surrounding water on Thursday, compared to the 1989 Exxon Valdez heavy crude spill in Alaska that sunk to the bottom and damaged reefs.

"The difference was this was finished product so refined na siya, so it would stay on top ... Saturday afternoon, only 5 to 8 percent of the diesel was left ... We were fortunate that it was diesel because diesel is very volatile and evaporate very quickly," the governor said.

Remulla also dismissed reports that Rosario township relies on fishing, a livelihood that was said to have been heavily damaged by the spill.

"Rosario is a major fish port town, it supplies a large part of Metro Manila's fish but a large part of their catch comes from Mindoro, Palawan and the Visayan Sea," Remulla said.

He explained that the local government attempted to plant artificial reefs in the area to help the fishing industry but the project did not have significant returns.

"Very little fish is caught in that area. The water's too dark ... It's not a rich fishing ground," the governor said.

Remulla said that Petron has used the 80-year-old oil facility since the 1970s. Its damaged pipeline that caused the oil spill stretches 1.4 kilometers with a depth of five meters.