GMA takes command of Guimaras cleanup effort

The President finally took command of the government’s effort to control the damage of the oil spill in Guimaras. Her declaration that the disaster was a national calamity prompted Petron to backtrack from its initial attempt to extricate itself from liability for the disaster.

That was welcome news, especially for the harassed Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), which was already running out of fuel for its five ships deployed to the area; and of course for Guimaras Gov. RC Rahman Nava, who broke into tears recently over the disaster in the island-province.

Mrs. Arroyo’s appeal for people to gather absorbent materials such as chicken feathers, hair and coconut coir seems to have galvanized the country. Hairdresser shops in Bacolod and Negros Occidental have started gathering hair for donation to the coast guard. For its part, the province of Romblon, according to Defense Secretary Valino Cruz, chairman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), had already dispatched to Guimaras tons of coconut coir for use as oil spill booms.

However, Red Constantino of Greenpeace had strongly criticized Petron, saying that the company should have started the effort to stop the leak and refloat the sunken MT Solar I tanker earlier. The tanker was reportedly some 3,000 feet under the sea.

Yesterday, Ms. Virginia Ruivivar, Petron spokesman, said the Fukuda Salvage Company boat contracted by Petron is arriving "next week."

Constantino said Petron should have acted more rapidly to stem the seepage of oil from the sunken tanker. But "it has been nine days and they are still talking about contracting a foreign boat to salvage the vessel."

Amid the confusion and exaggerations about the worst natural calamity to have occurred in the country, Cruz said the oil spill seems to have invaded the Apitong Cove of Jordon and the five ships of PCG and two more from BFAR are trying to contain the spill.

Athena Ballesteros of Greenpeace lauded the Regional Disaster Council for mobilizing the people to join the effort. She also hailed the talks among Guimaras Gov. Nava, Iloilo Gov. Niel Tupas and Negros Occidental Gov. Joseph Marañon.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque reiterated his warning about the health risks posed by the oil spill. However, TV footage show that some fishermen were working on the shorelines without any slippers or protective boots. Apparently, neither Petron nor local health officials had reminded them of the danger of such practice.

What is funny is that the Philippine National Red Cross (PNR) had already shipped 500 oil-repellent boots to Guimaras. These were augmented by some 200 boots from the UN White Helmet group. The boots had reportedly been used by workers who helped contain the oil fires in Kuwait, after the retreating army of Saddam Hussein torched the Kuwaiti oil fields in the 1990s.

The unprotected workers in Guimaras were a minority but what was astounding was they were allowed to continue working under such conditions. Vice Admiral Arthur Cosingan yesterday admitted that there was lack of coordination with Petron. It was more like "it is difficult to coordinate with Petron."

He also pointed out that he had to redeploy his personnel and equipment from as far as Palawan and Cebu to the area. Coast Guard authorities have been vocal lately about their dwindling resources for sustaining the operations.

No doubt Guimarasnons had responded to the call for cooperative action to cleanup their beaches. Those that were hired by Petron represent only 1,000 of the approximately 5,000 fisherfolk who lost their livelihood. The rest live on handouts from the government and Petron.

Many of the fishermen hired by Petron also complained that the P200 they receive daily could hardly feed their families. On average, a fisherman earns about P1,200 whenever he goes out to fish.

Cruz, however, has some good news. Some 28 kilometers of the coastline have been cleaned up by volunteer workers. The NDCC’s goal is to increase the cleanup rate to 10 kilometers daily. The important thing is to prevent the oil slick from getting out of the Guimaras Strait and threaten the Visayas Sea.

There was also another good news from Prof. Nestor Yunque, of the University of the Philippine-Visayas. He said that while 90 percent of the mangroves have been devastated as well as the 1,100-hectare Taklon Marine Reserve, five percent of the corals and most of sea grasses were spared. But the damage still has to be assessed by the teams put up by Edwin Aguilar.

Yunque said that eventually the damaged environment might be able to recover. It’s a question of time, though. And it could take years, even an entire generation.

People can sympathize with Gov. Nava when he shed tears for Guimaras. The province primarily depends on fishing and eco-tourism as its main source of income, aside from mango.

Now, he said they only have "calamity tourism." Many of the Guimaras resorts, including the picturesque Nagarao Island, favored by German and European visitors, have been virtually abandoned. Even resorts which were not contaminated by the oil spill said their visitors canceled reservations after the oil spill hit the news.

In a way, hundreds of visitors had arrived in Guimaras in the past few days. Most of these were drawn by curiosity over the disaster. And then there were droves of volunteer workers from various areas of the country and abroad.

The more important consideration now is the forthcoming arrival of the Japanese salvage boat. It is already nine days behind schedule, according to Constantino.

In a way, Negros was spared from the oil spill, giving the local government units a time to plan on how to avert the oil from spreading to the Negros coastline.

Responding to the call of Gov. Marañon to "act in self-defense," the Northern Negros Aquatic Resources Management Advisory Council started making makeshift oil booms to assist the PCG in fighting the oil spill at the source.

The mayors of the five cities who members of the NAMARC and, according to Escalante City Mayor Santiago Barcelona, had put up P200,000 each to set up oil booms to cover one to two kilometers each day in case the oil slick reaches their areas.

Terence Dacle, executive director of the NAMARC, said Sagay City is putting up spill booms in front of the Sagay Marine Reserve.

Amid this flurry of activities, however, the more fundamental question remains: What can be done to refloat the sunken tanker? That vessel is a ticking time bomb, Constantino said.